On Monday, Nov. 25, the Greek Council elected a new set of officers for the next calendar year. Leading Greek life will be Men’s Co-Chair John Pederson and Women’s Co-Chair Sarah Gambell.
Pederson, a member of Omega Phi, said he ran for Co-Chair because he feels he has shown commitment to improving Greek life at Trinity in the past.
“I could not be happier about being elected,” said Pederson, “I value my participation in Greek life and I am excited that I get to play a hand in ensuring that future Trinity students have access to the same life enriching opportunities that can come from being a life-long member of a fraternity or sorority.”
Gambell, a member of Chi Beta Epsilon, said that previous experience on Greek Council as Women’s Recruitment and Orientation Chair influenced her decision to run for Co-Chair.
“I found a greater appreciation of all of the Greek organizations on campus, and became devoted to unifying them and serving as a medium between them and administration,” Gambell said.
Also elected was Kimberly Siu as Women’s Recruitment and Orientation Chair, Xavier Vargas Hall as Men’s Recruitment and Orientation Chair, Ernest Alumanah as Treasurer, Vivian Ha as Judicial Chair, Angeline Bottera as Service Chair, Jonathan Box as Standards and Scholastic Chair, Zach Motz as Risk Management and Jenny Epperson as Secretary.
Candidates were given two minutes to address the voting audience and a person speaking on their behalf was given one minute. The voting body was composed of the president and a Greek Council representative from each fraternity and sorority and each member of the Greek Council, excluding the current Co-Chairs.
Every fraternity and sorority is represented on the Greek Council except for Chi Delta Tau, Phi Delta Kappa, Iota Chi Rho and SPURS. Delts, PDK and IChi did not have candidates run for any position on the council. No fraternity or sorority has more than one member on the council.
During candidate speeches, common themes included Greeks leading by example, membership in Greek life being a defining experience, making difficult and occasionally unpopular decisions, collaborating with administration and establishing relations with the overall Trinity community.
Pederson said he would like to see Greek organizations become a more recognizable and positive influence on campus.
“When it comes down to it, the only people that know what positive work their organizations are doing are the members themselves,” Pederson said. “I want to work on cleaning up the Greek image at Trinity until it is viewed in the positive light that it deserves.”
Gambell said that she wants non-Greek students to know more about the community service projects Greeks are involved in and that the Greek GPA average is consistently higher than the campus average.
All officers are currently in a shadow period and will completely take over duties after Bid Day on Jan. 31.
