Greek Council Presidents
- July 24th, 2023
- in Student Stories
The University of Alabama is home to the largest Greek-letter organization community in the nation (maybe the universe!) with 69 fraternities and sororities organized by four councils.
The Alabama Panhellenic Association (APA), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC), Interfraternity Council (IFC) and United Greek Council (UGC) are all supported by the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life (OFSL). Their members comprise over one-third of the UA student body.
While each council has its own unique structure, history and recruitment process, all four remain dedicated to the growth and success of the Capstone’s fraternity and sorority community and its members by offering them opportunities to develop professionally, make new friends, become more involved on campus and in the local community and to excel academically. In 2022-2023, the fraternity and sorority community reported 106,737 community service hours in nearby communities. And their GPA tends to be higher than the all-undergraduate GPA, with the 2022-2023 all-Greek GPA (3.35) only the fifth highest on record since 1999.
Although the councils receive guidance and support from OFSL, they are each primarily governed by an executive council of student members. While each of these executive councils varies in size, structure and even timeline, they each are led by a student president. The following students served their respective Greek Council as president during the 2022-2023 academic year:
- Deborah Oberkor – APA President
- Yechiel Peterson – NPHC President
- Will Fracchia – IFC President
- Mollee Starr – UGC President
Each of these four students had very different reasons for joining UA’s Greek community. Deborah became interested after some women in her hometown joined sororities at UA, while Yechiel didn’t know about the Greek community until sometime during his freshman year and joined because he was impressed by the many young leaders he came to know.
“I’m a first-generation college student,” Yechiel explained, “I had no reckoning of what Greek life was. When I got here … there were leaders everywhere that were very brotherly to me. Learning more about the organization … I realized these were the type of people I would love to align myself with.”
Mollee initially had no desire to become affiliated with Greek life, but later changed her mind when she discovered a STEM-based sorority with like-minded members. Will joined because he loved how close of friends his older brother became with his fraternity brothers, and chose to follow in his footsteps.
Once they officially began their presidential roles, these four students soon came face-to-face with various challenges their councils face. Whether it was making sure each organization of their respective councils had equal opportunities, promoting positive relationships between members, resolving scheduling conflicts or recruiting new members, they all rose to face each challenge head-on to deliver the best possible experience for the Greek community.
“We all have pretty similar missions for our councils,” Will said. “The four of us do a good job of working together. We definitely lean on each other to support each other.”
Deborah expanded on Will’s comment and spoke of the collaboration between the four councils, and how a bit of overlap between them is beneficial for every member.
“Since there are so many options, there’s a way to accommodate everybody. That’s a benefit of having so many organizations,” Deborah said.
Mollee further strengthened Deborah’s point by providing specific examples of the different organizations present in UA’s Greek community.
“We have chapters from business to co-ed engineering and band. We have something for everyone … there are options to look for,” Mollee said.
These four student leaders can be proud of what they’ve accomplished in their councils so far, encouraging academic excellence in their members and a lifelong commitment to philanthropy and service. Mollee even briefly spoke about how one’s involvement in Greek life can propel them to high achievements in other areas.
“Greek life really shapes people in the sense that it can produce great leaders and very responsible individuals,” she said. “I believe the characteristics they learn in Greek life, of responsibility and leadership, can be projected into other organizations that other people can pick up … leaders can move around and teach others to become leaders.”
Whether a student joins UA’s Greek community to make friends, develop professional relationships or to become more involved on campus, these four students prove that anyone can find a place in the Capstone’s Greek councils.