Should I Become a SEMO Greek?

If history is any guide, about 1,000 Southeast students over the next few weeks will ask themselves, “Should I go Greek?” The truthful answer for each person is different; however, for some I argue the answer is, “NO YOU SHOULD NOT GO GREEK.”  In my opinion, and I will speak only for me, Greek Life provides a transformational leadership opportunity that impacts your college experience and if you let it, the rest of your life. Each summer I try and attend the annual float trip for my fraternity where Southeast alumni, some from across the nation, gather in Steelville, Missouri to spend the weekend catching up with one another and sharing stories. Social media is a poor substitute for a camp fire on a Saturday night where you share the latest about family, friends, and in some cases the fraternity brother's we’ve lost over the past year.   

As with any major commitment in one’s life, you should not jump into Greek Life without thinking. I believe being part of a fraternity or sorority is harder than not being part of one. There are time, effort, relationship, and financial commitment that come with being part of a sorority or fraternity. This in NO WAY means being in a fraternity or sorority makes you better, special, or a more talented person that someone not in a Greek organization. What it does do is provide you a forum where you can make yourself better, make your peers better, and make your University and community better.  It also means you aspire to be held to a higher standard and if that weight it too much for you, the answer is, “No” you should not go Greek.

In my experience I believe many students aspire to be part of something and Greek Life may be this for some you. For others it may be an athletic team, ROTC, the arts, Student Government, etc, however, I still believe most students should consider at least participating in rush/recruitment. This does not mean you join, in fact it does not mean you even have to do much, but at least give yourself a chance to consider the possibility. If you find the values of Greek Life appealing to you, then the answer is, “YES YOU SHOULD GO GREEK.”

Proud SEMO Greek Alumnus

What's Up with Meal Plan Changes?

With a new school year comes change and this year there are some exciting changes to dining service on the Southeast campus. Of course, there is one not so exciting change as well, but first let’s start with the good news. 

Good News

Dining Hours: The major dining venues on campus--Towers, University Center, and St. Vincent’s Commons---previously closed at 7:00pm each night after dinner. These venues will now be open until 8:00pm for dinner. This is a request that has been at the top of student requests for more than three years and the new contract allows us to make this major change in our meal service hours.

Weekend Meal Service: For the first time in more than two decades, the meal service on both sides of campus, the south side (University Center) and the north side of campus (Towers), as well as St. Vincent’s Commons, will serve brunch and dinner on Saturday and Sunday. For students on the south side of campus, this may be the most significant change.

The new (Second) Subway service line

Subway Squared: Subway completed a renovation this summer and a second full service sandwich line was added. This, along with the staff to manage this line, will provide for much faster service. Fun fact… we did more than $1,000,000 in sales of sandwiches at the campus Subway! The construction photo shows the new service line at Subway being installed two weeks ago. 

Costs: The meal plan rate did not increase from academic year 2014-2015 to this academic year. Students pay the same for a 15 meal plan this year that they did last year. The structure of the meal plan has changed (expanded hours, Subway squared, roll over flex, weekend service) but the basic cost has remained the same. 

Bad News

Meal to Flex: Each year there are meals that go uneaten by students. Some students have a 15 meal plan and miss three meals one week, another two the next, etc. In the past, these meals rolled over to $1.50 in “roll over flex.” Of course it was great to get something for a missed meal, however, the $1.50 in flex was not close to the value of a meal in any of our dining venues and was, when you break down the math, not a great way to try and gain additional flex.

• One actual student example from last year involved a student who missed an average of four meals a week, on a 15 meal plan. These missed meals rolled over to $6 in roll over flex or $192 in flex dollars for the year.  This same student could have lowered their meal plan from a 15 to a 10 meal plan and saved $270 in cost. If they used this $270 savings to buy $192 in flex dollars/Redbucks they would have saved almost $80 in cost and still had the same level of flex dollars.

This pattern of usage was not uncommon and, because of the low value of missed meals, the Dining Services Committee chose to explore other ways to improve the meal plan to expand access in order to allow students to use their meal plans in more flexible ways than in the past.

IMHO Other Cool Random Stuff:

• In addition to late night breakfast on the Monday of exams, there is also now a Tuesday night “pizza and pasta” late night dinner offering at no cost to students, and Wednesday late night dessert bar scheduled for each final exam week.
• Last year, there were two “premium” meals each month (think steak night) and this year there will be three “premium” meals each month.
• At least three “Cooking 101” classes each month lead by the RD for Chartwells where the RD will work hands on with students to cook meals. These meals, both their recipe and cooking method are designed for students to be able to cook in any of our residence hall
•  A new program for partnering with International Students to have an “authentic meal” provides as an additional option on a rotating basis at different times throughout the semester.

Updates on Panda Express and a change at Chick-fil-A that everyone will approve of coming soon.