Greek Allies becomes official MU organization

The group plans to take small promotional steps this semester before beginning educational efforts in the spring.

By Marie Mandelberg

Published Oct. 19, 2010

A few months ago, Drake Douglas’ idea of creating a group to help Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer and Questioning students and Greek Life allies on MU’s campus was just that: an idea. But in the past week, Greek Allies became an official organization at MU, and plans to promote the group to the student body have been set in motion.

Douglas said the organization is going to begin staffing a table outside the MU Student Center, possibly while handing out hot chocolate, and will begin selling group apparel shortly, all in order to get the group’s name out to the public.

“We want to be a physical presence as well as a mental presence,” Douglas said. “We want to be in the back of everyone’s heads as they are interacting with their fellow Greeks.”

The organization’s members are from fraternities and sororities on campus, both LGBTQ and ally students. Senior Molly Steelman said it is especially important for the group to have ally members.

“We’re trying to get allies to join so that people in the LGBTQ community feel more comfortable to join,” Steelman said.

Steelman is a gay member of Greek Life and said she was excited when she heard of the group being created. She said she believed her Greek experience would have been easier if the group had been created sooner.

“As a gay woman in a sorority, I didn’t have anywhere to go,” Steelman said. “I would have felt 100 percent more comfortable in Greek Life if I had something like this.”

Douglas said one of the organization’s main focuses is educating current Greek Life members on the strong effects their actions and attitudes have. Suzy Day, Greek Allies adviser, said she would eventually like to see a representative from every chapter on campus participating in the group.

“I was really excited (to hear about Greek Allies) because there wasn’t this type of organization when I was an undergrad that I could have gotten involved with,” Day said.

Day said she hopes to be a valuable resource to the group.

“When being an organization, sometimes the rules and regulations are overwhelming,” Day said. “I hope I can be there when they have questions about running an event or hosting a fundraiser.”

The group hopes to host events and fundraisers in the near future, but Douglas said GA is going to take small steps this semester to promote the group and will begin their education process in the spring.

“Our long-term goal is to actually get away from the violence and silence that is found in fraternities and sororities and have the Greek community not have the stereotype of not being as welcoming,” Steelman said.

Douglas said when he first decided to create the group, there were big plans to change the campus quickly. Eventually, reality set in, and the organization now has a timeline for how it will accomplish all of its goals.

“Most importantly, I hope that the people who thought they didn’t have a place in the Greek community feel differently because of the work we’re doing,” Douglas said. “I never want people to feel they should not be allowed or not have the opportunity to experience the Greek community the way we get to because of something as frivolous as sexual orientation.”