Roughly 18% of DU students are involved in the Greek Life community. As part of this community, my Puksta Project is working not only to connect the Greek Community with the leadership of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning (CCESL), but also to enable a student driven culture shift. Working with sororities and fraternities on campus I hope to teach a new model of community service that everyone can participate in.
By educating students about the differences between volunteering and service learning, I hope to create sustainable community relationships between Greek organizations and the Denver community. Through co-sponsored service days between Greek Life and CCESL, a new model of community service will expand Greek Lifes impact not only within the DU community, but the surrounding Denver Community.
Expanding from multiple service days into a one-year community partnership with all Greek Chapters will also advocate a more sustainable environment when interacting with the community. Having all of Greek life working together with camaraderie amongst chapters will increase and encourage a more accepting and socially conscious community. By first establishing a strong Greek Life foundation dedicated to community, Greek leaders can start working to better understand the social justice issues within the Denver community.
With a close knit community and the skills to develop individual community partners the next step is for chapters to pursue their personal ambitions to create sustainable service learning partnerships that are internally driven. This will change the current culture at DU in regards to working with the community. After identifying social justice issues and working towards finding solutions, leaders amongst the Greek houses will be empowered with valuable community organizing skills.
Since I have been working on this project I have been met with nothing but positive reinforcement and eagerness in the hopes of remodeling the way fraternities and sororities currently handle community service and philanthropy. Through a work-study partnership with Greek Life and CCESL I have tremendous support from these offices, not only in regards to resources, but the relationships I have made have inspired me and educated me to continue in my Puksta project. I am also lucky to be the CO-Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Service on the Greek Council. This student driven body is working hard to crush negative stereotypes of the Greek community here at DU.
Learning that this must be a student-led initiative, the greatest challenge is finding other leaders with a passion to create change in their communities and be role models for other brothers and sisters in their respective houses. The men and women that can meet this challenge are already extremely involved. The challenge is for them to bring their fraternities and sororities along. Creating a new standard to which people will be held is challenging, but with hard work and support from various sources, I am more than confident that our vision can become a reality.
One of my biggest goals for the future is to find and develop a relationship with a community partner that understands the potential of the Greek community here at the University of Denver. This partnership should provide positive results, knowledge, and leadership in a multi-directional relationship for both sides. As fraternity men and women each of us has taken a pledge to be held to a higher standard. Recognizing this first step is only the beginning, this project will not only prove that statement true, but also help to reach the Universitys goal of working towards the greater good.
Learn more about DJ Close in his Puksta Profile