Students offer alternative to greek life

Members of a new organization are hoping to encourage women who didn’t join a sorority to still be involved with campus-wide events, participate in charity work and expand their social networks.

IU Independent Council is holding its spring call-out meeting at 7:30 p.m. today in room 211 in the Kelley School of Business.

The Council is a newly formed on-campus organization for women who decided not to get involved in IU’s greek community. The group is sponsored by IU’s Student Activities Organization, and it wants to reach out to young women who are interested in becoming more active within IU’s community without the pressure of mandatory involvement.

One of Independent Council’s main goals is to unite other independents under the principles of academic achievement, social participation and philanthropic contribution.

The idea for Independent Council stemmed from a similar group at Butler University. IU juniors Melissa Feeser, Annette DiTommaso and Katherine Stewart brought the idea to IU, creating the organization in the fall of 2009. The group has already reached more than 30 members and hopes to gain more interest at the call-out meeting.

“I’m really pleased with our progress thus far,” Feeser said. “I think it will really help girls on campus. Once you move out of the dorms, it’s hard to meet people since the campus is so large. Greek organizations have an advantage, so we want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get the most out of their college experience.”

Independent Council is working toward becoming more involved in IU’s traditions as well as a majority of the activities held on campus. Last semester, the women were involved in community service events, intramural sports programs, work with non-profit organizations, socials and attending sporting events together. They also do work with organizations to help support the troops.

All women are welcome to join Independent Council. Prospective members need to fill out an application explaining why they are interested as well as pay a membership fee.

“Our group of girls in the Independent Council is so diverse,” Stewart said. “It’s an awesome way to make more friends, and we have so many girls from out of state. ... Our main objective is to get as many people involved as possible.”

The women have weekly meetings where they plan philanthropy functions and organize at least two social gatherings a month.

“The first time I got together with the other members, I was shocked how welcoming and nice everyone was,” sophomore Abby Ross said. “I knew from the moment I first spent time with all the girls it was something I wanted to stay
involved in.”