Newspaper Page Text
6
Campus News
The Maroon Tiger
Sunday, May 19, 2002
FRATERNITY from Page 3
responsible attitude than a simply
social purpose."
And according to some
Greeks on campus, what is per
sonally involved in
making one a good
student may not nec
essarily make frater
nities take notice.
"Stereotypically,
Morehouse today
isn't what
Morehouse used to
be," Freeman said.
"We're in a different
era where we have
different types of stu
dents and what
might be good
enough for
Morehouse, might
not be good enough
for an organization, because the
organization expects so much
more of you."
"It's a different mindset, as
far as joining an organization and
going to a college. You are in that
certain group of people, but there
are so many people that you need
to connect with and they're look
ing for those same characteristics
that they had thirty years ago."
Campus organizations or
not, according to some college fac
ulty, fraternities have both positive
and negative aspects.
"Fraternities provide oppor
tunities for students to learn how
to work with other people within
an organization," Dr. Willis
Sheftall, College Provost and a
member of Alpha Phi Alpha said.
"By having to work with the broth
ers in a fraternity, you get a chance
to develop interpersonal skills and
you probably end up developing
some additional self-confidence.
"But the downside could be
that fraternities could foster inap
propriate social behavior—hazing
clearly would be an inappropriate
social behavior," Sheftall said. "I
don't want to single out fraterni
ties—that can happen in any other
student organization. On balance,
I think that fraternities contribute
positively to the quality of campus
life."
Fraternity contribution is
even eyed by some as being a pos
sible contributor to student activ
ity in campus organizations to ap
peal to a particular Greek-letter
organization.
"I hope that that's not what
individuals come to school for,"
Eaddy said. "School should be
about academics and where you're
going as far as career goals. If you
become engulfed in Greek life or
other activities, many times that
can stop you from reaching your
goal."
While some of the faculty fail
to see the elite status that Greek or
ganizations hold on campus, many
active members say that their el
evated role brings a greater respon
sibility to the larger Morehouse
community.
"With great
power comes a
greater responsibil
ity," Freeman said.
"No one should be
given respect; you
should earn re
spect. By wearing
letters of a certain
organization
they've earned
their respect and
therefore they need
to carry themselves
with a certain dig
nity, knowing that
people look up to
According to some Greeks,
fraternity responsibility on campus
is maximized by individual mem
ber strengths coming together.
"Every individual has cer
tain unique qualities or strong
points," Eaddy said. "The way that
brotherhood works is you can take
each individual's strong points and
use those to help that fraternity as
a whole."
Greek organizations remain
as campus icons and monuments
to what could be viewed as a
greater society. Whether that sta
tus is static or evolving, can only
be determined by those members
within the respective organiza
tions.
"It takes one person to
change an organization," Freeman
said.
LEKANfrom Previous Page
said. "We built a good relation
ship with [Vice President for In
formation Technology] Dr. Foster
from there. Sometimes I've had
the opportunity to tell them, 'This
is a waste of time. We wouldn't
benefit from it.' It's altered the
way that they've done things
[technologically]."
Bashua said that improve
ment had to come in small doses
for the College to fall in line with
student demands.
His unique position as both
student and CollegeTrustee has
allowed him to have a view of the
College that most students aren't
afforded. It often placed him in
the position of
"public ser
vant" who
knows more
than the pub
lic he served.
"When
a student had
a problem
with a college
related issue, I
was there, and
I always have
been," Bashua
said. "But, the
very revolu
tionary group
of people—
there were
times when I
was in groups
with some of
them and I
think I moved
away from a
lot of that be
cause the
more I got involved I realized it's
more about the school.
"I got to see two sides. The
more you see that, the more you
tend to react less quickly to some
issues," Bashua said. "While
freshman year, I'd be quick to
jump on somebody's behalf and
say 'This is what happened,' from
a student's perspective, the more
that you were in rooms with ad
ministrators and understood their
dilemmas the process became a lot
slower, and that's probably one of
the most frustrating things."
Paradoxically, the position
of student trustee, while elected,
isn't beholden to any group of stu
dents.
"When you come in as a
trustee, the College makes it very
clear to you that you are not rep
resenting anybody's point of view
but yours," Bashua said. "I kind
of disagree a little with that posi
tion, because to me, you're still an
elected official.
"The trustee is a student,
elected by students to represent
his interests and his perspective
on the board of trustees. You go
to board meetings and you inter
act. You offer suggestions, solu
tions and objections to anything
that you feel from a student's per
spective is contrary to the progres
sion of we students here at the
College."
Bashua recounted how his
outspoken nature on the Board
was a double-edged sword, but he
doesn't regret his action.
"It doesn't matter what it is
or who says it, I had to interact,
sometimes to my detriment and to
the conflict with Dr. Massey and
with certain board members,"
Bashua said. "I felt it was what I
had to do."
After
four years,
Morehouse
College has
given him a re-
newed sense
of drive and
fortitude.
"The
greatest thing
that
Morehouse
has given me
is (confidence)
that there is
never really an
obstacle that
you can't get
past without
trying some-
thing,"
Bashua said.
"I don't take
no for an an
swer easily."
H e
added, "A lot of people, although
they love some of the experiences
they've had here, are very, very
bitter about this place. I think if we
did a lot more honest discussion
with alums and with some con
tributors to the college, I think we
would get some more realistic
goals and (could) say alums feel
angry about this and if we worked
to fix those things so that the cur
rent students do not become those
same type of alums, it would do
us so much better."
Bashua will be heading to
Michigan to consult for the com
pany Steel Case that specializes in
"work place environment solu
tions," where he will work for six
months before returning to At
lanta.
He wants to continue to
leave a legacy as a "helper" and a
"problem solver."
"Every goal I have in my life
has something to do with helping
somebody some way and at some
time," Bashua said. "If I leave that
I'll be happy. If you keep an hon
est sense of who you are, what you
The Torch Yearbooks
aren’t ready yet. Leave Ray alone.
Don’t bother to call the office.
It’s Kevin’s fault.
He’s on sabbatical in London right now.
Members of Alpha Phi Alpha, Alpha Rho
participate in the 2001 Homecoming Step Show.
them."
‘The greatest thing
that Morehouse has
given me is
(confidence) that
there is never really
an obstacle that you
can ’tgetpastwithout
trying something,”
Bashua said. “I don’t
take no for an
answer easily. ”