Column by Ben Duncan

Now that summer’s over and we can’t spend the weekdays playing 18 in the morning, and afternoons at the Newtown pool, it’s time to get back to work. I hope you’re as excited as I am about this football game in Paul Brown Stadium against Miami of Ohio. Let’s all go up there, cheer the Cats on to a victory and come home H1N1-free. Sound like a plan?

Anyway, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s talk details. The Greek community at UK has been working hard all summer, and more specifically, over the past two weeks to recruit new members into our brotherhood and sisterhood. We are proud to say there are more Greek men and women at UK today than at this point in time last year. Being Greek is something to be proud of and we would like to officially congratulate all of our new members that just made the best decision of their young lives!

With the obligatory congratulations out of the way, please don’t worry — this isn’t a “Go Greek!” column at all. Actually, it’s exactly the opposite.

We encourage you to find your place at UK. Let’s face it: There are 265 registered student organizations on campus (via the new Student Involvement Web site, getinvolved.uky.edu) and only 47 of those organizations are Greek-affiliated.

Regardless of how you feel about Greek life, there are literally hundreds of other options out there for you to get involved with organizations whose purpose is the same as ours — to connect a student with peers of the same beliefs, values, passions, optimism and ambition. Then, foster that individual’s growth to ensure he or she is the most capable, well-rounded graduate who is ready to succeed in today’s global society. If Greek life isn’t your thing, let’s focus on improving our campus and the lives of students through the other 83 percent of student organizations that are not Greek.

When I entered UK as a freshman, it was my goal to have the most amazing four years of my life, learn more about myself in the process and graduate ready to lead in the interconnected world in which we live.

Students become unhappy with UK when those goals are not met. They decide to drop out of college altogether, transfer home or go somewhere else and miss out of the opportunity of a lifetime at UK. Retaining students is a fight we should all be in together. What can we, as a campus community, do to make students feel more “at home” in Lexington?

If those options aren’t for you, let’s talk about how we can change a culture on this campus that has become all too common: personal violence. The Greek community is leading this fight by partnering with the Violence Intervention and Prevention Center to co-sponsor a Greek-only SEEDS training on September 27.

We believe this partnership, the result of a year of planning, demonstrates our commitment to eradicate power-based personal violence on campus. As campus leaders, we are taking a stand on an issue and we would like the rest of the campus to join us. Together, we can make our campus safer for future generations of Wildcats. Violence on campus is not a Greek/non-Greek issue; it’s a campuswide problem that needs to be solved immediately. There is no better time than now.

The way we see it: If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem. Let’s be proactive and work together. Please join us in this fight. If you’re not Greek, please come to the campuswide SEEDS training on October 17. For more information, contact the VIP Center at (859) 257-3564 or stop by room 106 in Frazee Hall.

We know that SEEDS training is not the only answer. However, it is one of the initiatives in which we are undertaking. We are also going to have a “Green Dot” liaison for each of our chapters to take the message of the VIP Center and translate that into his or her chapter’s own core values. This liaison will work collaboratively with the VIP Center throughout the year to provide training workshops for his or her own chapter to ensure an effective delivery of the message. We believe this grassroots effort will be well received by our members and further demonstrate our commitment to leading the fight against power-based personal violence on UK’s campus.

On a final note, now that K-Week is over, let’s keep the momentum going. It’s an exciting time to be a Wildcat — just ask the Student Activities Board — where “there’s always something going on.” If you’re looking for something to do, check out www.uksab.org to learn about Cheap Seats, the Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lecture, Final Word and all of the rest of their exciting programs for this year.