April 5, 2006
Union
Greek groups shine with renewed trophy
By
Kenneth Aarons, Staff writer
To
Drew Moyer, a Union College senior, the Stephen P. Brown Cup was an apt
metaphor for the school's Greek system.
The
5-foot-tall trophy, named for a Union fraternity man who died in a 1950
train wreck in Long Island that killed 78, had grown neglected. Most of
the six figurines around its base were broken. The plaque on which
recipients' names were inscribed hadn't been updated since 1989.
"It
was in horrendous shape," said Moyer, a brother of Delta Kappa
Epsilon who had also been president of the school's fraternity
council.
So
last fall, he decided to do something about it.
After
he and interim president James Underwood presented the trophy to the
fraternity that reflected the best community service, intramural sports
prowess and grade point average, Underwood mentioned its condition was a
shame.
Moyer
went to work researching its history and figuring out how to return the
trophy to its original glory. He raised about $2,000 from Underwood's
office and the college relations office, and sent it out to Lee's Trophies
in Schenectady.
To
Moyer, fixing it up was also a symbol that relations between Greek
organizations and the school are on the way back. After a long chill in
which their presence was downplayed by administrators, fraternities and
sororities have been given new powers, such as the ability to adjudicate
cases brought before the fraternity council. "I'd say some people are
still suspicious," said Moyer, a mechanical engineering major.
"But the school has taken a step forward, especially Dean (Tom)
McEvoy."
McEvoy,
the school's dean of residential and campus life, acknowledged taking
steps to shore up the relationship.
"We
are putting a lot of time and energy and I think focusing on a lot of
conversations with our students about the true meaning of being a member
of a fraternity or sorority," he said.
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