Throughout this academic year, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life celebrates 50 years since the fraternity and sorority community was established at the University of South Florida, including the first formal connections to national Greek organizations.
At a 50th anniversary awards celebration at 6 p.m. today in the Marshall Student Center - open to the public - the office will present annual awards for USF's chapters and student leaders and launch the inaugural class of the USF Fraternity and Sorority Life Hall of Fame with seven inductees.
The inductees were selected for one or more of these reasons: they were involved in their fraternity or sorority at the regional level or above; they contributed to the university in the years after graduation; they were involved in professional or civic activities or both; they are considered a leader in their chosen profession.
They are Marissa Altman Gottfried, Sigma Delta Tau; Les Muma, Sigma Nu; Jim Harvey, Sigma Nu; Luz Randolph, Sigma Lambda Gamma; Dr. Anila Jain, Kappa Delta; Carolyn House Stewart, Alpha Kappa Alpha; Stephen Lytle, Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Currently, the USF fraternity and sorority community includes 49 chapters and is made up of more than 2,500 students, or more than 8 percent of undergraduate students. Fourteen organizations, 10 sororities and four fraternities currently reside on campus in Greek Village, which opened in 2003.
Over the decades, members of USF's fraternities and sororities have volunteered for many community service projects, from Stampede of Service, a day of volunteering at nonprofit organizations, to planting hundreds of trees on campus, to raising funds to prevent child abuse.
They've also had fun along the way. The historical photo is from the annual Greek Week festivities that began in 1967. Fraternities and sororities took part in different competitions to crown the Greek Week champion, and one of the events included decorating and participating in chariot races.
