Members of the Iowa State football team met with 20 different fraternities and sororities for dinner on Sunday night. The event was an effort to reach out to the greek system and bolster the image of the Cyclone football team.

“This whole thing was constructed by Coach McCarney. He wanted us to get out to change the way people feel about us, and this is a great first step,” starting safety and football captain Matt Straight said.

Freshman kickoff returner Kevin Wilson added, “There were more volunteers than we had room for. The whole team liked the idea.”

After eating dinner, players talked with members of the fraternities and sororities to explain what the event was about.

“This is really to get the student body involved, and to try to change the image of the team. We have a new attitude and a new image,” Straight said. “We’ve had some selfish people in the past that have caused problems at parties. As you can see by what happened last summer, Coach McCarney has already begun eliminating those people.”

The evening concluded with an open invitation for the student body to join the Cyclones Tuesday night at 9 p.m. for a pep rally in which ISU Head Football Coach Dan McCarney will be the showcased speaker.

“Everyone is invited. Coach [McCarney] is so enthusiastic,” Straight said. “He gets us pumped up for every practice. That’s hard to do, but he does it. If you come out and here him speak, you’ll see why.”

While the players received a break to meet with many greek members, they will all be back on the field this week preparing for Thursday night’s game with Ohio University.

“We would like to go into the residence halls, but we just don’t have enough time. After this, the players won’t be able to get out to do something like this anymore. With practices and games, we’re just too busy,” McCarney said.