Though often overlooked, the community-service-oriented aspect of Greek life on the UW-Madison campus is an important part of the lives of many students involved in sororities and fraternities.

Among the dozens of Greek organizations on campus, Delta Gamma, Zeta Phi Beta and Sigma Phi Epsilon stand as examples of how sororities and fraternities participate in community involvement on both the local and national levels.

UW’s chapter of Delta Gamma focuses on “service for sight” programs as a part of the sorority’s national philanthropy. The members are only required to put in five hours of community service per semester, but with so many options, many end up serving more.

Andrea Albrect of Madison’s Delta Gamma chapter said they started giving vision screenings at local schools to check for the onset of eye impairments two years ago.

Last year Delta Gamma held a Walkathon with the National Federation for the Blind that raised over $1,000. They also hold Anchor Splash, a swimming competition among Greek houses that raises money for both the National Federation and the Wisconsin Council for the Blind.

In addition, members read to blind UW students at the McBurney Center to help curb the expensive costs of Braille books for students with visual impairments.

Delta Gamma’s current project is to raise enough money for Bekele Haile Selassie, a blind law student at UW, to be able to continue his studies in Madison. Selassie is a former Ethiopian law professor writing his dissertation on corruption within the Ethiopian government.

According to Albrect, staying at UW is the best option for Selassie, because he fears oppression by the government if he returns to Ethiopia. Albrect said the challenges he would face if he were to transfer to another American law school might hinder his opportunity for an education.

“Being blind, he would be forced to have to learn an entire new campus,” she said.

Delta Gamma won the Greek Award for Outstanding Community Service in 2000 after raising $3,000 for Selassie. The sorority aims to raise the remaining $5,000 Selassie needs to stay in Madison this year through sales of a calendar featuring “well-rounded” UW fraternity men.

In reference to all of the service available to her through Delta Gamma, Albrect said the Greek system makes community involvement easy.

“I was really involved in high school and wanted to get involved in college,” Albrect said. “The Greek system made that easy; opportunities are put right in front of you.”

Another Madison sorority, Zeta Phi Beta, is a national community-service-based sorority. Kendra Beasley, a first year graduate student and member of the sorority, said that community service is an integral part of the sorority.

“One of the requirements for membership is previous involvement in community service,” Beasley said.

Zeta Phi Beta’s national philanthropy is March of Dimes, which includes Stork’s Nest, an organization to which the sorority donates food, clothing and baby supplies collected for low-income families and single mothers.

Zeta Phi Beta also holds biannual food drives and run/walks each year to benefit the March of Dimes organization.

The sorority members tutor elementary- and middle-school students in association with the Urban League and volunteer at the Atwood Community Center’s Girl Neighborhood Power program.

In addition, Zeta Phi Beta members hold a toy drive every Christmas for the UW Children’s Hospital.

“Each member is required to do two hours of community service a month,” Beasley said. “But that is a bare minimum.”

She also said that each month there is an opportunity for all of the sorority members to offer their service in conjunction with each other.

Fraternities do their share of community service as well.

UW’s Sigma Phi Epsilon chapter is known for its Tour de Touchdown, a long-standing fund-raising tradition.

Luke Behnke, vice president of external affairs of the Inter-Fraternity Council and a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said the members all raise money and pledges to ride a bike 300-500 miles to UW’s away football games.

“We strap a football to a bike and take turns riding it from Madison to wherever the game is and present it at the game,” Behnke said. “All of the proceeds go to the UW Children’s Hospital.”

The members of Sigma Phi Epsilon also volunteer for a program called Meals on Wheels, which delivers meals to elderly and needy individuals in the Madison area.

“A community center makes the food, and then we deliver meals to 20-25 people each week,” Behnke said.

Behnke said members of Sigma Phi Epsilon get involved in various other community service activities especially during Greek Week and Homecoming, and even surpassed their requirement last semester.

“Each member is mandated five hours a semester,” Behnke said. “But as a house, we did 1,200 hours of community service last semester, which comes out to around 10 hours per person.”