Each new semester brings new opportunities and leadership roles for students across campus. The greek community started 2011 with new council members, reflecting on successes from the past and making improvements for the future.

“Thanks to the hard work of councils past, we have a very good foundation from which to work off,” said Josh Knust, junior in mechanical engineering and President of the Interfraternity Council.

The Interfraternity Council and Collegiate Panhellenic Council serve as the main connections between the individual Greek houses and the Greek community.

“[Interfraternity Council] is simply a group of Greek men who have immense pride in the activities of our community and a drive to improve the Greek experience,” Knust said. “[It] is not so much of a governing body as it is a resource for the Greek community.”

The Collegiate Panhellenic Council serves the same purpose but is made up of sorority women. Both councils have 12 officers, all from various sororities and fraternities.

“I would personally like to see, as many presidents would, a positive image of our Greek community flourish on campus, and for the realization of our chapters’ accomplishments to be visible to all,” said Erin McHale, senior in child, adult and family services and president of the Collegiate Panhellenic Council.

Both Knust and McHale had previous experience in the Greek community before taking on the presidential seats in the councils. Involvement in these councils has helped prepare them for their upcoming roles.

“Last year’s president was Daniel Renner, who happens to be a member of my chapter,” Knust said. “I was vice president of recruitment last year during that time, and seeing his passion for the Greek community inspired me to continue my involvement.”

McHale began her involvement outside of Collegiate Panhellenic Council while helping potential new female members during rush week as a recruitment counselor, also known as a Rho Gamma.

“I was a Rho Gamma two years ago for the Greek community, and that inspired me to run for vice president of recruitment last year,” McHale said. “Being vice president was inspiration to remain active in the Greek community as my time remains here. It’s very rewarding to work with so many people.”

With high hopes for the upcoming year, the councils meet twice a week in order to reach their goals.

“Our [Collegiate Panhellenic Council] executive board meetings are Wednesdays, and our delegate meetings are on Thursdays,” McHale said.

The delegate meetings include two members from each house that act as the liaisons by passing information to each house.

“[Interfraternity Council] has delegate meetings, as well as president’s council meetings where myself and the executive vice president of [Interfraternity Council] meet with the 28 chapter presidents,” Knust said.

This year, both the councils will make strategic plans to accomplish goals during the next five years.

“Our council and executive council individual goals are geared to make the strategic plan a success in areas our Greek community need improvement,” McHale said.

“I want to lay the groundwork for the programming we will do for the next five years,” Knust said. “I also want to cultivate a relationship with the two smaller councils, the National Panhellenic Council and the Multicultural Greek Council.”

“If we all focus on some events, we will be able to become more visible in more entities,” McHale said.

Other goals that the Interfraternity Council and the Collegiate Panhellenic Council have are to get the endowment fund off the ground and give Greek students scholarship opportunities.

“[It] started last fall. We want to raise money from Greek alumni to reach the $25,000 mark. From the interest generated we can give out scholarships,” Knust said. “We also want to make a bigger impact with Community Service Weekend. We are going to extend the event from a one-day event to a weekend or half-week-long event and possibly extend outside the Ames community to Des Moines.”

Both councils work hard in order to reach their goals, and with help from advisers, they are able to stay on track. The Office of Greek Affairs assists the presidents into their new positions, with both graduate assistants and two full-time staff.

“Each council has a graduate student adviser that we communicate with multiple times per day,” Knust said. “They make sure we are making progress toward our goals and meeting deadlines.”

Meetings for the councils have been occurring since the first week of the semester, and many goals are already put into place. Activities held by the Greek community are visible to the ISU community. Both the councils work to find ways to work with non-Greek groups that are interested in hosting events.

“We are always open to collaborate with other organizations on campus; it just takes some background information, and we would love to be on board,” McHale said.

With a fresh start and new agenda for the councils, there are many possibilities to what they can accomplish this upcoming year.

“It’s very rewarding to work with so many people all toward a common goal — to better our Greek community,” McHale said.