Multicultural Greek Council brings together citywide chapters

Not all of Penn’s Greek organizations call campus home.

Six of the 14 fraternities and sororities within Penn’s Multicultural Greek Council are citywide organizations. These MGC chapters include members from multiple schools within the Philadelphia area, including Drexel and Villanova universities.

College senior and Penn MGC President Jacqueline Baron believes citywide fraternities and sororities are a positive thing for Penn students.

“Being part of a citywide organization is a great way to get off Penn’s campus and explore,” Baron said.

She added that, apart from meeting for chapter at least once a month, these organizations also hold workshops and host community service activities together.

Alpha Kappa Alpha sister and Drexel student Chantee Steele echoed Baron’s sentiments.

“Citywide organizations are very different than fraternities and sororities concentrated on one campus,” Steele said. “I think of it as a good thing. Our organizations have diversity of thought coming from different institutional backgrounds.”

According to Drexel MGC President Zicky Villette, the Greek bond is just as strong in citywide organizations as it is in sororities and fraternities on a single campus.

“We’re close because we’re forced to spend time together,” he said jokingly. “In any fraternity, you have your brothers and that will not change.”

While being part of a citywide fraternity or sorority lends itself to a unique experience for students, it does tend to cause problems that campus organizations do not face.

For example, coordinating meetings and keeping in touch with brothers and sisters is not always easy.

“Because we only have two people in the chapter with cars, and both of those people are at Drexel, we have a hard time commuting,” Steele said. “Paying for gas and traveling is difficult.”

Villette agreed that balancing multiple schools is not a simple task.

“Coordination is difficult because of the way our schedule works,” Villette said. “Our semesters are different. We have 10-week quarters instead of semesters.”

Although some of the citywide organizations include as many as five different schools, Baron said Penn is the “hub” of MGC activity in the area.

“Penn has the resources that most of the other schools don’t,” she said. “We have the rooms needed to accommodate our meetings and events. Penn also has a lot of great networking opportunities.”

In addition, Steele believes that Penn “understands the MGC culture” more than other schools do.

Villette added, “Penn has the best quality of MGC organizations and they spend the most time on MGC events.”

However, the inclusion of citywide chapters within Penn’s MGC gives it a smaller presence on campus than the Panhellenic and Interfraternity councils, Baron said.

“[Citywide MGC chapters] can’t have houses because their members are spread all over,” she added. “And all of their members aren’t on campus so we don’t always seem as big as we are.”

“Being part of a citywide organization is all about how you decide to deal with it,” Villette said. “Some things are different … Everything else — the brotherhood — is the same.”

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