Greek life is a major part of the college experience for many students. COVID-19 has changed a lot about this year’s college experience, and Greek life is no exception. Both fraternities and sororities on Drury’s campus have had to face hurdles set by the global pandemic and are working hard to keep Greek life alive while staying safe.

All of Drury’s Greek life chapters have put several safety measures in place to make sure their spirit weeks, recruitment events and meetings have been safe for everyone involved. Both the fraternities and sororities have been participating in sanitizing, social distancing and masking requirements. However, these safety requirements have given rise to new challenges.

Members of Greek life have had to figure out how they are going to continue doing events while staying safe and following both Springfield and Drury guidelines. Events and chapter meetings will still be taking place, but with certain restrictions in place. Panhellenic President McCayla Shebaum says, “There are several events happening for all four sorority chapters coming up. Every chapter is having meeting virtually on Sundays: Pi Phi is having Pie a Pi Phi which will be in person with safety guidelines in place, Tri Delta is participating in the virtual St. Jude Walk/Run, and the other chapters have some exciting events coming up as well, even though they might look a little different this year.”

Drury’s fraternities will also continue to have meetings and events, some in person and others over Zoom. Many that have already taken place have been in-person, but that will not be feasible for others, such as weekly meetings or certain events that typically happen on campus, such as Lambda Chi Alpha’s popular philanthropy event, Watermelon Fest. These changes have definitely made things for the fraternities more difficult, but they are all adapting well. Lambda Chi Alpha’s President Paul Parrish says, “Due to some restrictions, we must hold meetings at alternate locations around campus that can hold our member capacity. In addition, some members are disappointed by not being able to go visit their brothers down the hall, but we are looking forward to the day that we can safely resume visiting one another. To have all the brothers in one space, we must submit safety planning forms to register gatherings as events. Although this is a fundamental change in how we interact with each other, it allows us to be more deliberate and thoughtful with the times we do have together.”

One aspect of Greek life that may be worrying to other students are the typical social events such as parties that usually happen throughout the year in the Quad. However, no parties are being thrown or endorsed by either the fraternities or sororities this year.

Overall, nothing is perfect in the time of COVID-19, but Drury’s Greek life students have been doing their best to stay safe while continuing to keep their organizations active. McCayla Shebaum puts it best when she says, “Greek life gets a bad reputation sometimes, but the women in our community want our peers, faculty and other university members to know that we are taking this pandemic seriously and we are willing to take all precautions to ensure a safe and healthy school year.” Ultimately, it seems as though Drury’s Greek life is committed to taking this pandemic seriously and all chapters are doing their part to help end it. After all, the sooner this pandemic ends, the sooner things on campus are able to go back to normal.

Article by Samantha Ellis