If safety is your priority, we need your help NOW….

Next week is really important for the legislative work of the fraternal world. Over 200 men and women who are fraternity/sorority members  - including the Cal KA president – will make visits to federal congressional offices to speak with members of Congress and various legislative aides about the Collegiate Housing and Infrastructure Act (CHIA).  In case you are not aware, this Act would provide for tax-deductible donations to be made to the fraternal foundations specifically for housing facility safety measures and improvements.

We need your IMMEDIATE help!  Please join the Facebook application called “Petition Your Congressman.”  You will be asked to sign a short petition, which will then be sent to your representative/senator.  All the petitions will be printed to use during the Hill visits, so we need to gather these signatures no later than April 17.

If Facebook is not your thing, then please visit www.fraternalcaucus.com and register.  At this site you can send an e-mail to your representative/senator in support of CHIA.  There is new information on the Web site, so now’s the time to begin sending messages. If you have not sent an e-mail from this Web site since January 1, 2009, please use the site now to send an e-mail message as the Bill had to be re-introduced to the new Congress so we start from Ground Zero again. April 17 is also the critical date for this action so the e-mails can be used for the visits. Chancellor Birgeneau has endorsed this Bill with letters of his own to our elected officials.

When John Edwards of KA gets to Washington, D.C., next week, we want him to be proud and pleased with the number of petitions and messages CalGreeks generated.  This is really easy to do and a great way to demonstrate our good citizenship. Please share this message widely with your membership, advisors, alumni, parents, and friends.

This past weekend, representatives from three councils (IFC, PHC, MCGC) traveled to San Francisco along with 900 other Greeks from across the country to attend the Western Region Greek Association Conference. Featuring keynote speeches from well known speakers about leadership development and other topics, the conference allowed council members to learn valuable skills that they could take back to their work at UC Berkeley. Additionally, smaller breakout sessions allowed council members to discuss ideas and issues with keynote speakers and other presenters in a more intimate setting. During the awards banquet, CalGreeks won the Inter-Council Relations award, as well as taking second and third places in the Order of Omega case competition. Several UC Berkeley IFC chapters were also in attendance, and your chapter should consider attending WRGA in 2010.

We all know how much fun attending sports games with friends is, so why not make a Greek night out of it? For the fourth year in a row, more than two hundred Cal Greeks attended the Greek Warriors night February 4th. For only twenty dollars, attendees got a ticket to the game as well as bus transportation to Oracle Arena.

Members of the Greek community got the opportunity to watch the Warriors play a great game against the Phoenix Suns, and even saw themselves up on the big screen. Events like these help promote unity between the different Greek Councils and provide us with an opportunity to meet members of other chapters.

This past weekend saw executive officers from all four councils-IFC, PHC, MCGC, and NPHC-in Marin learning about leadership, developing relationships with officers from other councils, and setting goals for the upcoming semester. Under the guidance of several CalGreeks advisors, council officers worked to determine ways to strengthen their respective councils, promote Greek unity, and be effective leaders within the Greek community.