November’s slew of elections has not not only involved local politicians but also Cornell’s Interfraternity Council and Multicultural Greek Letter Council, which underwent a change in administrative leadership. The IFC and MGLC, two umbrella organizations that oversee more than fifty campus fraternities and sororities combined, recently elected the members of their 2008 executive boards.
“The new board is full of highly motivated leaders with big goals that they will accomplish as a team,” said Lance Polivy ’08, outgoing IFC executive vice president.
“The MGLC coordinates much of the activism on campus relating to minority groups,” said Diane Wu ’08, outgoing president of MGLC.
The IFC is the governing board that represents over 40 fraternities on the Cornell campus, according to its website.
“Each year, as a group, [the IFC] promotes safety and helps maintain the long-term sustainability of the Greek system,” Polivy said.
There are eight members on the 2008 IFC Executive Board. Greg Schvey ’09 of the Sigma Phi Society is the president-elect; Ryan Lavin ’09 of Delta Phi fraternity will be executive vice president; Matt Dubbioso ’09 of Psi Upsilon fraternity will be vice president of judicial affairs; Greg Mezey ’09 of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity is the incoming vice president of recruitment; Edward Rooker ’10 of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity will be vice president of university and community relations; vice president of programming will be Jason Georges ’09 of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity; Michael Misrahi ’09 of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity will be vice president of finance; lastly, Adam Paz ’09 of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity will be vice president of communications.
According to Lavin, some of the goals that the incoming board has for the upcoming year include strengthening the relationship between the Ithaca City Council and Cornell’s Greek community as well as enabling individual chapters to be more involved in the legislative processes undertaken by Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
Unlike the IFC, however, which is comprised of only fraternities, the MGLC, according to its website, is co-ed and consists of 16 culturally-based organizations. Its executive board coordinates programs between its members and the rest of the Cornell community.
According to Wu, most of the MGLC’s events on campus involve community service and activism.
“It is exciting to play such an important role on campus,” she said.
The organization’s main event is the annual Greek Freak Step Show, which raises money for local high school students to pay for books.
The 2008 MGLC Executive board consists of seven members. New to this year’s slate is the vice-president of programming position, which has existed on the e-boards of the Panhellenic Association and IFC, but not the MGLC.
Taylor Le Melle ’09 of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority is the incoming president of the MGLC; Christopher Whylie ’10 of Iota Phi Theta fraternity will be executive vice president; vice president judicial will be Carlos Casian ’10 of Lambda Theta Phi fraternity; Jessica Kwon ’09 of Kappa Phi Lambda sorority will be vice president of programming; Nicholas Diaz ’10 of Lambda Upsilon Lambda fraternity is the incoming vice president of university and community relations; Janene Smith ’09 of Delta Sigma Theta sorority will be vice president of communications.
“The diversity the new board shows is great,” said Wu. “It’s exciting to see younger students taking on board positions.”