Rejuvenated after a weekend conference, some members of Iowa State’s greek community are focusing on redefining their public persona.

Greek student leaders said they returned from the Mid-American Greek Council Association Conference with new ideas, inspiration and goals.

Twenty-five ISU greeks attended the conference, which was held in Chicago the weekend of Feb. 18.

It was attended by about 1,800 greeks from around the country.

During the conference, participants attended presentations on issues that apply to greeks as well as non-greeks, such as leadership, scholarship, hazing and community service.

Nick Milani, vice president of public relations for the InterFraternity Council, said there is a difference between what really happens in the greek system and the public’s perception of greek life.

“The greek community already has leadership, academics, volunteer work and brotherhood,” said Milani, sophomore in mechanical engineering. “Unfortunately, we are perceived as something totally different.”

Shara Lech, vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Council, said the members want to use information they received from the conference to revamp the current image of the greek system.

“We are going to conduct a survey asking ISU students about their perception of the greek community here,” said Lech, sophomore in communication studies. “We really want to know how we can change, what we can do better.”

Milani agreed that the members want to “change our image.”

“We are going to identify individual problems within houses [to take] a progressive approach,” he said.

However, Ellen Dunseth, Panhellenic adviser, said ISU greeks already serve as role models to other universities’ greek systems.

“The philanthropies, the leadership — Iowa State’s greek community is way ahead of other institutions,” said Dunseth, graduate in educational leadership and policy studies. “We’ve really got something to be proud of.”

Dunseth said being involved with the greek system helped her become more active on campus.

“Being greek opened doors for me that would not have been opened for me if I had not been a part of the greek community,” she said.

Dunseth acknowledged that there are some stereotypes about fraternity and sorority members.

“People who are actively involved know more about the greek system than those who are not,” she said. “Perception varies as far as what they believe — any organization has perceptions.”