Citizenship

Our chapter of Delta Gamma has been going through some questioning stages of our citizenship lately. A specific example includes the idea of philanthropic giving, education, and socially responsible personal and professional behavior. Recently, our director of fundraising wanted to add an event called “Slices for Sight,” which is the selling of pizza on our lawn between 11:00 pm and 2:00 am. I didn’t think too much of the event, but agreed with the other women that the late night sale would raise quite a bit of money to donate to Service for Sight, our philanthropy to benefit people with visual impairments. After the discussions arose about PHA’s plan to have “Water Wars,” I began to think more about the ideas behind our philanthropic events. Shaina, our PHA representative, Sharrell, and I were engaged in a discussion about philanthropy events here on OSU’s campus. It was during this discussion that Sharrell suggested incorporating education into our philanthropy events. Everyone seems to lure people into their events with cool sporting events or delicious food, but when we get them there, we take their money and send them on their way. It would be so much more meaningful if when we had them at the event we engaged them in even a few seconds of education about the cause. This would enable more people to be knowledgeable and potential advocates for the cause that we already care so much about. During these discussions, the idea of socially responsible personal and professional behavior was also brought up. Although this event was great to raise funds for philanthropic giving, it was not going to work for the educational component, because let’s be honest—most people coming to buy food that late at night will most likely be drunk to some extent. Is this socially responsible? I don’t think that it is. Preying on drunken people makes the individual chapters look bad, and also the whole Greek community, because a lot of non-Greeks do not know the difference from one chapter to another. These people will probably not differentiate between the drunkenness and the worthy cause, as they clash and there will be a stigma with the event. Although I got outvoted to cancel the event “Slices for Sight”, I hope that in the future, we can choose philanthropic events that do more than just raise money, but will also move our cause of Service for Sight forward.