September 30, 2009 – Our Town – OWU

The Greeks gather on Fraternity Hill before the clean-up began.

Photo by Emily Hastings ’10

Greeks Get Grimy
Great Greek Clean-up helps OWU campus to shine

On Sept. 27, Fraternity Hill was filled with Greeks and trash bags. After two hours, the OWU campus was sparkling clean.

The Great Greek Clean-up was sponsored by the Panhellenic Council (Panhel), the Council of Fraternity Presidents (CFP), and the Department of Buildings and Grounds. Serving as co-chairs for the event were Alexa von der Embse ’11, Panhellenic community development chair, and Brandon Luttinger ’10.

“The idea for an all-Greek campus clean-up came up at the end of last semester in both Panhel and CFP meetings. This year we just decided to finally implement it,” von der Embse says.

President Rock Jones addresses the Greek community before the Great Greek Clean-up.

Photo by Emily Hastings ’10

President Rock Jones kicked-off the clean-up with a speech about Homecoming Week and how he was especially pleased that the Greeks were taking such pride in the campus.

Buildings and Grounds provided all the necessary tools for the day, including gloves, trash bags, and trash pokers. Department employees also gave something more precious: their time. Each Greek group was paired with a Buildings and Grounds member who went around to the sites with them.

Junior Jon Morin of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity stabs a piece of trash outside Smith Hall.

Photo by Emily Hastings ’10

Greek organizations were randomly paired together and assigned to specific zones on the residential side of campus. Many of the groups finished early, so they headed to the academic side of campus to do more cleaning.

“I was really pleased with the turn out and the results of the clean-up,” von der Embse says. “We had more participants than I expected. We had originally thought we would only be able to finish the residential side, but we ended up cleaning most of the campus. In the end, we filled a dumpster and a half with trash.”

To wrap up a great afternoon, Buildings and Grounds provided pizza for all of the hardworking volunteers.

– Emily Hastings ’10