At 6 a.m., before the sun came out, community members gathered inside the Ludwick Community Center to survey homeless people as part of San Luis Obispo County’s Point in Time Count. Among them were members of Delta Gamma, one of Cal Poly’s nine social sororities.
Delta Gamma members Ali Jones, child development sophomore, and Eleanor Olsen, business administration sophomore.were volunteering to complete their service hours, required by both their sorority and Cal Poly. It’s a part of Greek life that members and administrators believe is underrecognized by the student body, according to those who spoke to Mustang News.
Regardless of the requirement, the sorority sisters felt the event was important. Jones and Olsen said they wanted to connect with the community uniquely and ensure homeless people received care.
They feel that most students do not see Greek life members volunteering and assume members only care about partying.
“I think it’s just a lot more than partying,” Jones said.
“I feel like our sorority has had a big push for us to do philanthropic things,” Olsen added.
Greek life members also volunteered at a night relay event on Jan. 28, organized by Safer, Cal Poly’s prevention education and confidential advocacy resource.
Sara Jean Kamp, the violence prevention specialist for Safer, helped organize the event to bring awareness to the fact that people should feel safe running at night. She was happy to see Greek life members volunteering not only to support the relay but also to connect to the broader Cal Poly community.
“The community level is a really important layer when you’re doing prevention work or education and outreach,” Kamp said. “It’s a great way to meet people and be connected at a deeper level because you’re involved.”
Owen Siegmund, a bioresource and agricultural engineering sophomore and Zeta Beta Tau member, worked the check-in desk for the event. He also thinks that the volunteering that Greek life members do is underseen.
“I feel like a lot of Cal Poly isn’t really seeing what Greek life is doing outside of social events,” Siegmund said.
To break those stereotypes, Elizabeth Aiello-Coppola, the assistant director for Fraternity and Sorority Life, wants to promote the volunteering aspect of Cal Poly’s Greek life. She believes students overlook Greek life’s volunteer work and that more exposure would break people’s assumptions of Greek life.
“When our students volunteer, they’re not doing it in a big and flashy way,” Aiello-Coppola said. “It’s not just occasional service for show. They’re volunteering weekly, monthly, year after year.”
According to Aiello-Coppola, food banks, senior centers and Alzheimer’s-related community service are some of the most popular forms of volunteering among Greek members.
Cal Poly requires every Greek life member to complete five service hours per quarter, in addition to the hours required by their individual organization. Aiello-Coppola said this ensures members reflect the values of individual organizations and the six pillars of Fraternity and Sorority Life.
“[Organizations] each have their own set of specific values,” Aiello-Coppola said. “We have six pillars of Fraternity and Sorority Life. That’s how we operate, but it’s also how we expect of all of our fraternities and sororities.”
During the 2024-25 academic year, Greek life members completed over 59,000 service hours, raised nearly $325,000 for charity and created over $2 million in economic impact, according to Cal Poly’s data that is collected on compliance with California’s Campus Recognized Sorority and Fraternity Transparency Act based on the Independent Sector’s value of one volunteer hour in California.
Ethan Martinez, an aerospace engineering sophomore and Phi Sigma Kappa member, helps Greek life members find volunteer opportunities as part of his position as the Interfraternity Council’s vice president of volunteering.
Martinez also served as the community service chair of Phi Sigma Kappa, where he holds his members accountable for completing their hours and organizes service events for his own fraternity, such as a blood drive last spring on Dexter Lawn.
Like Aiello-Coppola, Martinez thinks the volunteering that Greek life members do does not get enough attention. He plans to encourage organizations to make their service more public.
“Stereotypes only evolve for what’s public,” Martinez said. “I think it’s very important that [organizations] promote more of their community service.”