Eliza Dent, sister of Mu Sigma Upsilon, tells us what she learned during her time at UIFI...
Over the course of my year in the
Greek community, I have participated in a variety of experiences that are meant
to teach me how to truly be an effective leader. However, I would say that the
previous experiences do not compare to the UIFI in the way we were expected to
critically think about issues in our community. We took the general
conversations in the Greek community about our issues and took them to a deeper
level than I had ever experienced before.
To begin, one of the ways we discuss
general issues is by breaking down problems from the surface level to their
root. First you must identify the true problem, then the symptoms of a problem.
They compared this to a person having the flu. The actual problem is that the
person is sick, and the symptoms are the physical signs of that problem, such
as a fever. Then, there’s the apparent cause. The apparent cause is what you
think the reason for the cause is. We often misinterpret these as the root cause,
address them, and get caught up in cycles of the same problem and apparent
causes. However, to fully analyze a problem, we must look at the root of it. If
the root cause is addressed, then a problem can actually be solved for good. We
used this way of think when analyzing problems in our own communities and how
exactly to go about fixing them. Personally, I focused on the fact that Greeks
on our campus don’t realize the difference between philanthropy and service.
Therefore, a counselor and I discussed that there should be a point to educate
people on these differences and work to implement more service into our plans.
During UIFI, we also took a look at
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. We applied it from a chapter point of view, and
truly asked ourselves if our chapters fulfill each need. Personally, I believe
my chapter could do a better job with making sure members’ basic needs are
filled first. For instance, some sisters put chapter work before getting a full
night’s rest or eating three meals a day. In order for our chapter to run
effectively, we must fulfill our basic needs first and then move forward. I
think every chapter could work on this, and we should put more emphasis on the
self-care of members throughout the year.
These lessons along with others have
motivated me to make even better change in my chapter, council, and overall
Greek community to rebuild our reputations, values, and relationships with the
greater community.