New initiative pairs Greek and community organizations as service partners

LAWRENCE — The Center for Civic and Social Responsibility and the Fraternity and Sorority Life program have collaborated to create a new initiative, the Fraternity Sorority Community Service Partnership. The purpose of the partnership is to continuously support the advancements of the Greek letter organizations at the University of Kansas while also looking to maintain meaningful relationships with Lawrence nonprofit agencies.

“This initiative gives us a chance to create strong partnerships between Lawrence community agencies and the Greek organizations at KU,” said John Augusto, director for the Center for Civic and Social Responsibility. “It also shows our students the importance of co-curricular service learning.”

“The FSC Service Partnership will be such a powerful relationship between Greek organizations and the community partners,” said Amy Long, associate director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center. “The Fraternity and Sorority Life community is constantly striving to create stronger and bigger impacts regarding service and relationships across campus as well as in Lawrence, and this partnership with the Center for Civic and Social responsibility presents the perfect opportunity to do so.”

To kick off this new initiative, both groups invited Greek organizations and community partners to register for the initiative, indicating the kinds and amount of volunteering they were interested in. On Sept. 7, the groups hosted an event for the community partners and Greek organizations to be matched and to discuss their new partnership, and 25 FSC Service Partnerships were created.

The Center for Civic and Social Responsibility fosters learning experiences that develop civic agency, address social challenges, and cultivate a shared commitment to the public good. Since 1873, Fraternity and Sorority Life has grown to become a vital part of the history and tradition of KU. Today, the Greek community represents more than 4,200 students — 20 percent of the undergraduate student population — and more than 45 Greek organizations. Each of these organizations is a member of one of the four governing councils: the Interfraternity Council, the Multicultural Greek Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Panhellenic Association.

The partnerships are:

• Delta Lambda Phi and CCO-Daily Bread
• Phi Iota Alpha and Plymouth Language Program
• Lambda Phi Epsilon and Health Care Access
• Sigma Psi Zeta and Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Tau Kappa Epsilon and Boys and Girls Club
• Lambda Chi Alpha and Penn House
• Delta Upsilon and Positive Bright Start
• Kappa Sigma and Social Service League
• Alpha Epsilon Pi and Community Village Lawrence
• Alpha Kappa Lambda and The Sexual Trauma and Abuse CARE Center
• Alpha Tau Omega and CCO-CAAS
• Pi Kappa Phi and Lawrence Meals on Wheels
• Delta Chi and Douglas County Jayhawks-Special Olympics
• Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Brandon Woods
• Pi Kappa Alpha and Independence Inc.
• Sigma Phi Epsilon and Big Brothers Big Sisters
• Phi Delta Theta and CCO-Lifeline
• Alpha Delta Pi and Visiting Nurses Association-Home Health & Hospice
• Alpha Chi Omega and CCO-CREATE
• Pi Beta Phi and Friends of the Lawrence Public Library
• Kappa Delta and Friends of Hidden Valley
• Gamma Phi Beta and Community in Schools of Mid-America
• Kappa Kappa Gamma and STOP GAP
• Delta Tau Delta and Positive Bright Start
• Theta Chi and CCO-Daily Bread