After almost four hours of debate over the recognition of the Organization for the Discussion of Greek Life in Popular Culture - commonly referred to as the Greek Life Council - a club dedicated to "educating the community of the diverse philanthropic, political and social efforts of local and national Greek letter organizations," according to its constitution, was granted recognition by the Senate on Sunday."We are seeking to educate the Brandeis community on common misconceptions about Greek life and to a greater enhance the community through means such as philanthropic events to benefit charities representing great causes," said Amy Tu '04, a member of Sigma Delta Tau.

Josh Sugarman '05, representing the Greek Life Council and a member of Alpha Epsilon Pie at the Senate meeting said,, "our goal is simply to educate...we hope to dispel that Greek life isn't just about drinking. It's about education and philanthropy."

The Greek Awareness Club, a club sharing many similarities with the Greek Life Council, appeared before the Senate May 5, 2002 seeking to become chartered. When the Senate rejected the motion to charter the Greek Awareness Club, its members sought recognition, only to be rejected once more.

Sugarman said that the main difference between the attempt to get recognized in 2002 and this year's is that the Greek Life Council is now "dedicated to serving as a liaison between Brandeis University and off-campus Greek letter organizations," according to its constitution.

"There's a different purpose," Sugarman said. "The main thrust of the original was off-campus, and now it's more of a cultural goal."

Sugarman explained the 2002 rejection of both becoming a chartered and recognized club might be attributed to misconceptions about Greek life as a whole.

"People don't understand what's at the root of these groups," Sugarman said.

Sugarman claimed that most people base their opinions of Greek life off movies and hearsay, alluding to "National Lampoon's Animal House," a film highlighting the wild lifestyle of fraternities in the 60's.

He stressed that misconceptions like these promote misinterpretations of Greek life, and that education and dialogue can help dispel some of these myths.

"Without communication we're prolonging misunderstanding," Sugarman said. "I think it's time to change this, and I think (recognition of the Greek Life Council) is the first step."

In a vote of 13 in favor, five against and three abstains, the Senate recognized IGC as a club. Those against shared several concerns of how the Greek Life Council would affect the Brandeis community.

The Village Quad Senator, Peter Williams '05, expressed hesitancy to recognize the club for three reasons: "The Senate didn't recognize a very similar club last time in May 2002, also regardless of what anyone says, it will be used as a tool to increase Greek influence on campus, and the lack of recognized Greek life at Brandeis is something that makes Brandeis very unique."

Castle Quad Senator Andrew Katz '06 disagreed, claiming that the Greek Life Council will be beneficial to the Brandeis community by expanding education on important issues.

"I came in with an open mind on the issue, and after hearing the way it was presented I certainly made up my mind," Katz said. "As the meeting went on, I realized we educate people on everything that they may be ignorant about or uncomfortable with from racism, antitsemitism and homosexuality to being left-handed in a right-handed world; and I realized that educating about Greek life was no different - though to a much lesser degree in many people's eyes."

"As soon as I was assured that this club was not a front for off-campus fraternities and felt comfortable that this club was interested in helping and improving both the social and philanthropic life at Brandeis University, I was pretty confident with voting yes to their recognition."

Now that the Greek Life Council is recognized, Tu believes students will have a clearer idea of Greek life.

"As with any club on this campus, recognition provides an outlet for more opinions to be expressed and provides greater paths for students to experience new things," Tu said. "Recognition of the Greek Life Council proves that though we may not recognize specific Greek organizations on this campus, we certainly recognize that Greek life and its concepts are important in our overall community and should be a presence that is addressed."

Kevin Skobac '04, a member of Phi Psi added that granting recognition to the Council indicates that Greek life has an acknowledged presence on campus.

"It's a pretty significant contribution to the Brandeis campus because for the first time there will be an active of what Greek life is, so I think this is a pretty significant step," Skobac said.

Tu said that it has been difficult to give a greater voice to Greek life on campus in the past, and the recognition of the Greek Life Council will act as open forum for students in expressing questions and concerns about Greek life.

Tu said, "As a senior at Brandeis I have found little to no campus help in addressing the issues of Greek Life that many students care about.

"Recognizing the concept of Greek life and educating the student body on Greek ideals provides a chance for students on all sides of the spectrum to come together and voice their opinions on this matter.