President | ESU Bulletin

Posts Tagged ‘President’

Vogts, Cheray win ASG election with 418 votes

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 14 April 2011 13:35
No Comments

Junior marketing major Jennifer Cheray and junior integrated studies and pre-occupational therapy major Ashley Vogts hug after seeing that they had won the 2011 ASG presidential campaign Wednesday night in the Memorial Union. Kellen Jenkins/ The Bulletin

The new president and vice president of Associated Student Government are Ashley Vogts, junior integrated studies and pre-occupational therapy major, and Jennifer Cheray, junior marketing major, respectively. At approximately 5 p.m. last night, the election results were posted outside of the Center for Student.

“It’s feels good – we’re excited,” Vogts said. “We’ve both been involved in ASG for five years between the two of us and we were ready to take that next step and become a bigger leader within ASG. We have a passion for ESU and ASG.”

According to the election results, 755 students voted in the online election. Vogts and Cheray received 418 votes. The voting started Monday and ended at 4 p.m. yesterday. The total number of students voting increased by 66 from last year’s election.

“We really want to stick with our platform that we were running with – establish, solidfy and unite and kind of build upon those three words and the plans we’ve set forth,” Vogts said.

Vogts said they want to establish face-to-face relations between organizations and their representatives in ASG, solidify what ASG already has in terms of internal structure and unite students with the faculty. They also want Senators to be known on campus.

“There’s the Faculty Senate and the Student Senate and we really want to bridge that gap and become that liaison between students and faculty,” Vogts said.

Cheray said the toughest part of the campaign was sending their message to as many students as possible.

“We were trying to reach a diverse group of students, not hitting the same students, so that was definitely the hardest things for us to reach outside of the box and hit multiple groups of students,” Vogts said.

Vogts said the first thing the two hope to accomplish next year is the “solidify” component of their campaign. At the beginning of each fall semester, ASG has a retreat, and Vogts said the main focus for the next one will be the different roles for Senators.

Cheray said the retreat has always been about what specific committees Senators are involved with, so members only focus on one area of ASG rather than every aspect.

“We want to focus on broadening their knowledge of ASG as well as how to better communicate that information with their organizations,” Cheray said.

Vogts said another goal is to improve communication between faculty and administrators and students on campus.

“We talked to some faculty members and administration members and one thing that really stuck out was that they want student input, student relations with faculty members,” Vogts said. “That is a huge need here on campus. Sometimes students’ voices get lost.”

Vogts and Cheray said some of their biggest supporters were family members, classmates and their sorority sisters. Vogts is a member of Chi Omega and Cheray is in Alpha Sigma Alpha.

“Be looking for ASG (next year) – we’re open for any students to come to us for opinions, ideas, concerns, positive things too,” Vogts said.

Kenzie Templeton

Administration mum on free speech scuffle

Written by Sarah Shaw
Thursday, 19 November 2009 15:15
5 Comments

Infographic By Kelsey Wright

Angered by two staff editorials that appeared in The Bulletin, the administration has declared that they are in an “adversarial” relationship with the student newspaper, seeking the possibility of an increased role of the Student Media Board in editorial decisions and re-evaluating the role of The Bulletin’s adviser.

At the center of the controversy are the changes that President Michael Lane directed his subordinates to seek in the advising and management of The Bulletin, which has been an independent student newspaper since 1901. Lane, however, has declined a request for an interview and has not communicated his concerns directly to The Bulletin staff or agreed to meet with the Editor-In-Chief. Her letter requesting a meeting and his response are printed on the Opinion page.

“I think (the situation) is twisting and turning,” said Marie Miller, chair of the English, Modern Languages and Journalism Department. “All I can report to was what the president and I talked about, and one of the items was this evaluation process. He and I talked about three very, very specific items – that he had no intention of changing the adviser, the evaluation process and the actual job description itself. He was unclear what the job description was.”

Last Friday, the Department of English, Modern Languages and Journalism met and voted to write a letter to administration in support of The Bulletin’s adviser and assistant professor of journalism, Max McCoy, The Bulletin, free speech and academic freedom.

During the meeting, McCoy spoke to the department about a meeting he held with the dean on Nov. 9. The dean told McCoy that the actions of the administration were triggered by two editorials, one on parking and the other on campus banking, in which the word “bribe” was used.

The Oct. 1 parking editorial incorrectly stated that the parking meter prices had risen and suggested that this was to help fund Memorial Union renovations. The price error was corrected in the next print edition of The Bulletin.

Another concern of Lane’s was the banking story, which used an open records request to expose a $600,000 contribution to the ESU foundation for the Memorial Union renovations. In an editorial that ran in the same issue, the contribution was referred to as a bribe.

According to McCoy’s notes, which were distributed at the department meeting, President Lane considered the word “bribe” defamatory and said the newspaper was “off the reservation.” He didn’t remember approving the most recent Student Media Board Constitution and he desired to see the constitution revised.

Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, confirmed that criticism is still a protected media right, despite how “angered” the administration might be.

“It’s absolutely protected speech to publish negative or critical information or opinion about the school,” LoMonte said. “The core mission of the student media is to inform people about what is happening on campus even if that reflects poorly on the college.”

The administration first raised the question of the staff editorials in an email from Lynn Hobson, vice president of student life, to McCoy.

“I would like to meet and discuss a number of the staff editorials which have appeared in the papers so far this semester,” Hobson wrote in the email on Oct. 20. “I would like to know what your thoughts are about who should be involved in this discussion….Media Board, Advisor, editor, me, etc. Please let me know.”

McCoy replied that he was uncomfortable meeting to discuss The Bulletin editorial content, as it might be perceived as an attempt to censor news and opinion. He suggested Hobson contact the Editor-in-Chief of The Bulletin directly.

McCoy does not edit or read any part of The Bulletin prior to publication.

“We do see very, very often at the college level that the adviser takes the brunt of what the students did,” LoMonte said. “That’s a very common occurrence because schools know that there’s only so much that they can do to the students. The students are paying customers and they want their money. But the adviser, especially an untenured adviser, is in a much more vulnerable position and unfortunately they often become the fall-guy. That is the school’s way of intimidating the students. It’s almost like a hostage situation. ‘If you don’t tone down your criticism of the school, bad things will happen to your adviser.’”

The role of the adviser was something that was discussed at length during the department meeting last Friday. The department felt that McCoy was fulfilling his role as adviser.

“(President Lane) admitted he went off given the recent decision from the Board of Regents on time that is taken from teaching and applied to other service areas and the efficiency report just really stirred up a lot of issues and the president apologized for that. (He) immediately began thinking about the efficiency report and the fact that this was the equivalent to one course load each semester and that it was not being evaluated,” Miller said during the department meeting.

However, the position of adviser to The Bulletin is evaluated by Faculty Recognition Committee.

“The FRC (Faculty Recognition Committee) absolutely reviews the adviser to The Bulletin,” said Rachelle Smith, associate professor of English, said during the department meeting. “We look at a number of documents that are submitted to the FRC as well as student evaluations that are done by the Bulletin students. We have found Professor McCoy’s performance as an adviser to be exceptional and absolutely in accordance with the standards of the profession and our understanding of those standards.”

Also in question is the Student Media Board Constitution, which is the document governing document of The Bulletin.

“That constitution was very carefully crafted 30 or 40 years ago specifically to let the student media do their job,” said Sally Turner, former adviser for The Bulletin and current president of College Media Advisers. “It has really worked well, even though people complain about the media, they have kept their hands off and that way the students learn and they can go on to perfect their craft and really be proud of the product that they produce while they’re in school, so I hope that nobody toys with that.”

The Student Media Board Constitution says that the Associated Student Government will appoint four members to serve. At a meeting on Sept. 24, senior political science major Jonathan Krueger appointed undergraduate student Kurt Fifelski, ASG senators Ashley McCullough and Bo Moddelmog and graduate student and ASG adviser Whitney McGinnis.

According to the document, there can only be two members of ASG appointed to the board, which Kelsey Ryan, Editor-in-Chief, brought to Krueger’s attention. She said that she believes the adviser counts as a member of ASG, making three ASG members on the Student Media Board. Krueger responded that while he disagrees, McCullough will be replaced on the board by undergraduate Alli Jordan.

Lane expressed his concerns with the Media Board constitution to Miller, which she relayed at the faculty meeting.

“At the time when all of this came up on Monday, (Lane) said that he did not remember ever signing off on that Constitution and he didn’t agree with it,” Miller said. “He admitted to me this morning that yes, he does have a copy of which he signed off on.”

Members of the administration have also expressed concerns with the accuracy of the reporting in The Bulletin and suggested ways to improve the accuracy. They also questioned the practices of Bulletin reporters.

“I wonder whether there is a method to try to ensure accuracy and whether the students feel like that method is working right now,” said Steve Brown, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences during an interview on Monday. “If that method is not working, are there other ways that you all could come up with that might ensure better accuracy in reporting? It’s not for me to try to suggest or impose. Truthfully, anything I might suggest or impose might be more flawed than what we’re working with now.”

LoMonte said that questioning the accuracy of a publication was a red flag for potential prior review.

“Our concern when we hear buzz words like quality and accuracy thrown around is that administrators are trying to nose their way into the newsroom by claiming they just want to improve the quality,” LoMonte said. “It’s especially suspicious when that follows very closely an investigative story or a hard-hitting editorial that makes them unhappy.”

Jim Ryan, professor of theater and member of the Student Media Board, suggested that accuracy may not be the issue in question.

“I’m not sure if it has to do with accuracy or if it has to do simply with sensitivity for certain issues, towards certain topics,” Ryan said.

Professor of Economics Rob Catlett is a member of the American Association of University Professors, a national organization dedicated to maintaining principles fundamental to academic freedom. Catlett said that the AAUP has dealt with student media related issues in the past, and would offer advice, if it was requested, regarding this situation.

“If a faculty member or administration wants our assistance, all they need to do is ask, and we want to do that as professionally as we know how,” Catlett said. “Somebody could contact me, somebody can contact other members of the AAUP, and we will direct them to somebody that can listen to their situation and provide an independent judgment….

We are committed to these higher level principles that guide universities and we want it known that we’re willing to act as professional intermediary,” Catlett said. “We’re not on the side of faculty members, we’re not on the side of the administration, we’re on the side of these basic fundamental principles.”

Miller believes that communication should be the first step in alleviating this issue.

“That’s not untypical of academic discussions, the problem being that if you are not face to face with people talking about things or second hand or fourth hand, that in that translation, things unintentionally become different,” Miller said. “I honestly believe that everybody is doing the best they can to get this cleared up.”

However, direct communication between the administration and the Editor-In-Chief of The Bulletin has yet to occur.

“I don’t think there’s any chance for resolution until President Lane agrees to meet with me,” said Kelsey Ryan, junior political science major and Editor-in-Chief of The Bulletin. “If there was any miscommunication, I feel it could have been avoided if the administration had just communicated directly. Until that time, there is no way to mend this ‘adversarial’ relationship.”

Sarah Shaw/The Bulletin

President announces good, bad news from audit

Written by Ashley Peaches
Thursday, 22 October 2009 13:48
No Comments

“It’s not all bad,” president Michael Lane says as he presents the 2009 Legislative Post Audit, Monday afternoon in Albert Taylor Hall. The Audit examined different of ESU like enrollment and efficiency. Jennifer Baldwin/The Bulletin

“Is this going to be good news?” asked a member of Thursday’s audience at the Legislative Post Audit Report on Efficiency meeting to Emporia State President Michael Lane as he walked the aisles of Albert Taylor Hall.

The answer was soon discovered as Lane went through slide after slide of graphs and information from the audit.

“We’re not here to talk about good, bad, indifferent or to blame (anyone),” Lane said to the audience. “We’re here to talk about opportunities that we have to improve things as we move forward.”

However, the first graph showed that ESU has had the highest increase in total cost of attendance between Pitt State University and Fort Hays State University.

“I think the audit points out some areas that we need to improve,” said Gary Wyatt, professor of sociology, anthropology and crime and delinquency studies and interim associate dean of liberal arts and sciences. “I do worry a little bit about hard cold numbers divorced from reality and what we are really doing, driving policy and expenditures.”

For this audit, ESU, FHSU and PSU are grouped into one category of universities called Regional Universities because they focus on teaching. Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and Wichita State University are grouped in the Research University category because they focus on both teaching and research.

ESU spends more per student than the other universities in its category for full-time equivalent students.

Among other categories, ESU ranked over FHSU and PSU including more staff per 1,000 students in educational programs, more dollars spent per FTE student in educational programs, more money spent per FTE student on scholarships/fellowships, research programs and public service.

Stephen Catt, professor and chair of Communication and Theatre, asked if this information could be used to recruit students.

“It’s an interesting idea to advertise and market that we spend more per student, but I think that would have more negative impact out of the legislature than it would positive impact among parents and students,” Lane said.

According to the audit, “overall, Emporia State had more total staff per student than their counterparts in 2008. Emporia State also has significantly more staff per 1,000 students than its out-of-state peers.”

One area Lane discussed that was of concern to members of the audience included the policies on workload requirements for staff.

“Could we look at the way the faculty workload report is done?” said Alexis Downs, associate professor and interim chair of accounting and information systems. “I was just wondering if the way the report is calculated could be reconsidered.”

ESU had the lowest average of teaching credit hours per FTE instructional staff among the regional universities.

The audit was quoted in Lane’s presentation as saying, “among the regional universities, Emporia State had the highest percentage of professors teaching fewer than 12 credit hours during the Fall and Spring semesters.”

Another issue that was raised from the audience was how to deal with low enrollment courses. Carol Russell, associate professor of elementary teacher education and president of Faculty Senate, asked what professors should do when their course is dropped because of low enrollment.

“I’ve asked folks to look at the enrollments a little earlier after we get through our basic enrollment (in November),” Lane said. “Yes, we can argue it might be three (students now) and it might be eight (students) in January but that’s a way to get students to get their enrollments done earlier. We take away their options if they are not taking advantage of them in a timely fashion.”

ESU also had the highest total cost for teaching remedial courses and highest cost per student out of all of the universities evaluated – including the research universities.

Lane stressed that part of his job now was to educate the legislature about what makes ESU different from the other universities.

“One of the issues that we have right now is that I have to do some educating of the legislature,” Lane said. “I have to help them understand that Emporia State isn’t Pittsburg State and Emporia State is not Fort Hays State. In many regards, we share more characteristics with Wichita than we do with Hays and Pittsburg, and that is graduate education.”

To reduce costs, the Board of Regents gave some suggestions that could help universities operate more efficiently, including eliminating or combining low-enrollment courses and academic departments and collaborating with other universities to share course content teachers and instructional programs.

“Overall, I’m not particularly threatened by what I heard today,” Wyatt said. “It seems to me that we do need to make some changes in a few areas and like the president said, we need to do some educating.”

Other suggestions included increasing number of courses offered online, increasing faculty workloads, modifying the delivery of remedial courses, outsourcing no-academic functions, consolidating administrative functions, maximizing use of exiting classroom and lab space and reducing energy costs.

“Even though we may disagree with some of the auditor’s comments we’re are still going to have to address them,” Wyatt said.

The full report can be found at http://www.kslegislature.org/postaudit/ audits_perform/08pa24a.pdf.

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

Letter to the Editor

Written by Bulletin Staff
Thursday, 10 September 2009 17:01
No Comments

In our every day life there are numerous activities that are transpiring and impacting us in different ways. Usually it happens that in course of life we sometimes forget to evaluate, analyze, and observe our own actions/behaviors. Our absorption with the activities can occasionally deprive us from correcting and thus improving ourselves. In different religions, particular practices and teachings have been bestowed to guide the human conduct through the life of the world. Islam takes into account the need for personal growth and provides a well-defined and crafted framework to enable individuals to analyze, correct, and improve their personal conduct. One of the constituents of that framework is Ramadan. Ramadan occupies a pivotal position in Islamic teachings and is one of the five pillars of Islam.

Ramadan is a month in which Muslims abstain from food, water, and sensual desires from break of dawn till sunset. However, it will be important to note that a person has not only to abstain from the afore-mentioned but also to examine his/her behavior closely. The restrain, as ordained through the Divine, helps a person to develop a commitment to refrain from passions that pleases and maintains the physical embodiment. After being relieved from the need (for a certain time) to strive for physical pleasures an individual can move to a higher level; a level at which s/he can evaluate her/his own values, the roots of values, extent of adherence to correct principles and finally the nature of the contribution that an individual is making to humanity.

To enable an individual achieve the above-mentioned objective(s), Ramadan carries in it an elevated agenda to uplift an individual. That is, the purpose of Ramadan is to develop, first, the self-consciousness and then God-consciousness so that an individual while refining his/her character could re-define his/her relationship with the humanity. The purpose of this re-definition is to increase the quality and the quantity of contributions that an individual can make towards the growth of humanity.

When an individual opts to refrain from food and the things as outlined in Islamic injunctions, s/he displays a commitment to improve personal character. This initial step enables a person to become a manager of his/her desires rather than the victim. As an individual becomes a watchman of his/her own self then s/he can take a step back, pause for a moment and can analyze the essence of his/her everyday conduct, the principles providing the breeding ground for that conduct, and the avenues for further improvement.

In view of above-mentioned arguments it can be stated that Ramadan is not only a month but an institute that envisions its students to emerge, after going through this institute, as well-disciplined, intellectually and spiritually groomed individuals so that they can grow continuously in multiple dimensions; the dimensions that relate to intellectual, spiritual, physical, and social spheres of life.

Waseem Afzal/President, Muslim Student Assoc

Faculty Profile: Russell takes on leadership role as new Faculty Senate president

Written by Shawna Berry
Thursday, 27 August 2009 13:38
No Comments

RUSSELL

Carol Russell, associate professor of elementary teacher education, has been teaching at Emporia State for 14 years. She enjoys teaching here because of the opportunities that her department offers.

“Emporia has a wonderful reputation, and I was especially drawn to it because their Early Childhood Development and Elementary Education were in the same department,” Russell said. “This is important because Early Childhood Development truly is education at its earliest level.”

This year, she is getting the chance to be faculty senate president. When she was invited to run for the position of president she accepted.

“I thought for sure I wasn’t going to get it,” she said.

Prior to achieving the position of President of the Faculty, she was a senator for the faculty. Faculty Senate is an organization that holds meetings to discuss campus issues, pass bills, and provide a voice for the faculty here at ESU.

Originally from Minnesota, Russell received her undergraduate degree from Baker University, located in Baldwin City, Kan., and worked on her doctorate degree from the University of South Dakota while teaching at South Dakota State University. After 15 years of teaching at South Dakota State, Russell went on to receive her master’s from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville.

Amy Sage Webb, associate professor of English and former Faculty Senate president, said that the focus of the senate ranges from all topics from academic affairs to the calendar and where fall break will occur.

The senate is also responsible for writing bills for academic affairs and attendance policies.

“(Faculty Senate) is a lot of work, but also an opportunity,” Russell said. “You can make a difference if you are willing to take on leadership roles. It takes a real commitment but is still very exciting.”

Dwight Moore, associate professor of biology, was president of the Faculty Senate in 2001-2002, and currently serves as a senator on the Academic Affairs Committee. He praised Russell on her communication with the faculty and others

“I have every reason to believe she will do a fine job,” he said.

Webb also speaks highly of Russell.

“She is very compassionate and patient, and willing to collaborate with others on different issues,” Webb said. “She also seems very capable of time management. She is a very positive person.”

Russell is working hard to plan ahead and strategically looking at challenges that the senate, the students or the university might face as a whole.

“This position requires teamwork and collaboration to overcome challenges or new issues we face,” Russell said. “It is not my voice alone, but representing the faculty.”

A PDF copy of the Faculty Senate constitution and bylaws can be found on the university website, under the University Resources tab located on the home page.

Faculty Senate also works with student representatives through Associated Student Government.

Faculty Senate holds meetings every first and third Tuesday of each month. The next meeting is at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in the Memorial Union Kanza Room.

Shawna Berry/The Bulletin

Economy vs. Education: Q&A with ESU President Michael Lane

Written by Ashley Peaches
Monday, 30 March 2009 12:41
No Comments

ALTERNATE STORY FORM VERSION

As the Kansas legislature determines the future of higher education, Emporia State students may have questions about next year´s budget. Michael Lane, president of Emporia State, sheds some light on financial issues that affect ESU.

Why did the Board of Regents institute a tuition freeze?

“If the Kansas Legislature and the governor can hold our budget reduction to 7 percent, our budget gets reduced by no more than 7 percent, they agree to freeze tuition for one year. If the budget reduction is more than 7 percent, then they don’t agree to freeze tuition… It’s the recognition that families are suffering in this economic downturn as much as the state is and some cases more.

“If it goes deeper than 7 percent, for example the senate is looking at something like a 13 percent cut for higher education, if we have to reduce by 13 percent, that’s $4.6 million. That’s another $2.1 million that we will have to reduce from our budget and we’ve already reduced everything we can without getting significantly into areas that would negatively impact course offerings. We would probably have to get into layoffs and furloughs at that level. We want to avoid that at all costs.”

If the budget cuts are more than 7 percent, why won’t the Board of Regents keep the tuition freeze in place?

“Their purpose in freezing the tuition is to try to preserve the state general funding amount at the highest level possible… they wanted to make it less expensive for families and give the legislature some incentive to fund us at the level that they funded us last year… We are trying to work with the legislature to say, ‘Please get us back to 7 percent…’ We’ve been preparing for that for a year. It’s not easy. We actually eliminated 20 unclassified lines, seven classified lines, including 27 student work positions and 14 graduate assistant positions.”

How will additional budget cuts be dispersed throughout the different departments on campus?

“We have put a freeze on hiring. We have about 20 positions open and we will probably freeze those completely. That’s about $1 million. That will take care of 40 percent of the additional amount. Whatever there is left after that, we will calculate the dollar amount proportionally, allocate it out to the colleges and schools, and tell them that they have to cut that amount of money.”

What impact will the losses in the foundation have on students and the budget?

“The losses are not really reflected in the university budget at all. Where they do impact is scholarships. Initially, when we went through and did our analysis, 31 percent of our endowed scholarships were underwater. What the foundation did was took the list of all of those endowments and called the people who created them. Many of those people said, ‘Yes, I’ll fund the scholarship this year directly.’

How have the losses in the foundation impacted the number of scholarships that will be available next year?

“Not all of the scholarships will be available for next year but many of them will be. We had some unused scholarship money that we will be able to use for next year. We will do our best to find something to replace the scholarship that you were on. I can’t guarantee it because I don’t know what’s going to happen with the market tomorrow.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

President Lane hosts Greek Recognition Dinner

Written by Alex Pedersen
Thursday, 05 February 2009 14:19
No Comments

Jonathan Krueger, junior political sciences major, receives his meal during a recognition dinner hosted by President Michael Lane Monday evening in the Sauder Alumni Center. The dinner was held to honor the current and former leaders of ESU’s sororities and fraternities. KELLEN JENKINS/THE BULLETIN

Emporia State President Michael Lane hosted a recognition dinner in honor of the leaders of ESU’s fraternities and sororities Monday night in the Sauder Alumni Center.

“It’s to foster more interaction between President Lane and students and the student leaders, more importantly,” said Jeremy Walter, junior crime and delinquincy studies major, Phi Delta Theta vice president, and president of the Interfraternity Council (IFC). “He’s kind of viewed as removed from the university in a lot of the students’ eyes. He’s a prestigious, intimidating guy, so it’s really to bring him down to earth and let students see that he is interested, he does care, and he’s willing to participate.”

The event was only for former and current presidents and vice presidents of the greek houses and was an opportunity for President Lane to officially meet all of the leaders.

“I think they’ve been pretty constant in their service to the community and their service to campus,” said President Lane. “I guess most recently would be the cultural perspectives program, which is helping to integrate some of our international students and help them learn more about our culture.”

This is the third annual Greek Recognition dinner and it was catered by Sodexo. Approximately 50 people attended.

“It’s a good chance for past and present Greek presidents to kind of look back at the past year and see what was accomplished and to look forward to the future and set new goals,” said Michelle Hernandez, senior business administration major and former Sigma Sigma Sigma president.

Many of the new Greek leaders from different houses had not met, so this was a chance for them to make new connections.

“It gave everybody a chance to kind of know their surroundings, who all is also involved in Greek organizations, for those who don’t know them on a personal basis,” said Zack Davis, sophomore political science major and Sigma Phi Epsilon president. “It just kind of establishes a common ground where you get the chance to know who you’re going to be working with for the upcoming semester.”

This connection can be important, as the Greek houses work closely with each other throughout the year for various events.

“It’s a great event, we enjoy it very much,” Lane said. “We enjoy the social aspect, beginning to know at least a table full of leaders but, more importantly, just to have an opportunity to see people and learn their names and what they’re doing and, sometimes, why they came to ESU and, in tonight’s instance, some strange and unusual facts.”

After the leaders introduced themselves, they also shared an interesting personal fact that their Greek brothers or sisters might not know.

“It was a little awkward, at first,” Walter said. “Honestly, it always kind of is. We’re all a little intimidated by the concept of having dinner with President Lane and there are faculty and advisors everywhere, so people are a little intimidated at first, but once you get past that initial stage, I was very impressed, it was very proper, it followed ettiquette very well.”

The dinner also celebrated the efforts of the cultural perspectives program, in which Greek students pair up with international students to help them to adjust.

“I learned about the effectiveness of the cultural perspectives program and I met a lot of new presidents coming into IFC and Panhellenic (Assosciation) and the organizations themselves,” Lane said. “So that’s really the whole purpose, is for me to meet them and for them to see me and, that way, if they see me on campus and want to say something, they will.”

The event is a beginning of the semester rally point for fraternities and sororities and allows them to present any big plans they may have and to discuss how they want to progress with the rest of the year.

“I’ve been around for a couple of years and I’ve seen the way things are in the past and I really do think Greek organizations, as a whole, continue to get better,” Davis said. “I think that getting together like this, in a way setting goals for how we can improve over the next year, is very beneficial and I would assume that next year, when we get together, we’ll be proud of what we accomplished in the coming year and strive to do even better the following year.”

They are also able to look at the last year and give praise where it is due or to discuss areas that could be improved.

“I think it was productive,” Walter said. “I wouldn’t mind seeing something similar to this in a larger scale, maybe with more than just our president. Maybe with two or three guys from every chapter, two or three ladies from each chapter. Or maybe some of the other organizations on campus, be it Order of Omega or any number of RSOs, really.”