New faces to lead Greeks

UNM's Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils are full of new faces, but their missions remain the same.

Cari Crappell, the incoming 2004 Panhellenic president and Kevin Stevenson, who will assume the role of Interfraternity president for the next year, both said they want to improve fraternity and sorority relations.

"It is important to open the lines of communication between the two councils," Stevenson said. "Both groups come to the table with different strengths, so combining them is beneficial to everyone."

The two councils met last week to introduce the newly elected members and to share their goals and expectations for the following year.

The outgoing council members met individually with the people taking over their positions to share their expertise and words of wisdom.

"We all have big shoes to fill," Crappell said. "The Panhellenic Council has began a tradition of excellence that is sure to make for a successful Greek community at UNM for years. I hope we can raise the bar a little higher."

The Panhellenic Council is the governing body that oversees six of UNM's eight sororities. The Multicultural Greek Council oversees the University's two minority-based sororities.

Celestina Torres will remain the president of that council for 2004.

The Interfraternity Council governs UNM's 14 fraternities.

Stevenson said he plans on meeting with various University organizations to discuss ways to build mutually beneficial relationships and is looking for ways to use Greek resources to help the community.

"Greeks are always looking for new ways to donate their time and effort to help the community," he said. "Community organizations seem to always be in need of help. There is a lot of success to be found here. We just need to bridge the communication gap."

Stevenson said he also wants to build off the success of the Greek community's recruiting process, which has significantly increased the number of Greeks at UNM in the past two years.

Crappell said she realizes the importance of making Greek life fun, but understands how vital it is to keep the community structured and productive.

Improving on its learning program, which requires Greek members to study and focus on educational activities for a specific amount of time each week, is one way of doing this, she said.

Allison Holcomb, Greek activities adviser, said the majority of the newly elected officers have had experience on the councils before and she trusts them to carry on the traditions set before them.

"They understand the importance of their roles and I really believe they are up to the challenge of leading UNM's Greek community into the future," she said. "We have every faith in the new members of our councils."

New officers for Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils

2004 Panhellenic Council officers

President - Cari Crappell

Vice President - Marleigh Garcia

VP of Judicial Affairs - Kris Vega

Recruitment - Lauren Haggerty

Secretary/Treasurer - Haley Dodson

Scholarship - Rachel Wise

2004 Interfraternity Council officers

President - Kevin Stevenson

VP of Internal Affairs - David Steele

VP of External Affairs - Justin Taylor

Secretary/Treasurer - Joey Rohrer

Recruitment - Justin Landis

Public Relations - Joe Sanchez

Community Service - Julian Graham

Scholarship - Diego Hurtado

GAMMA - Mark Fisher

Greek Ambassador - John Hyatt