THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
“Little good is accomplished without controversy, and no civic evil is ever defeated without publicity.”
Wednesday September 10, 2014
President Gee speaks at Tea @ Three event
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Volume 127, Issue 18
www.THEDAONLINE.com
GET THEM TO THE GREEKS
Doyle Maurer/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
President Gee shares a laugh with the audience at his information session at the Evansdale Residential Complex Tuesday afternoon.
by jake jarvis multimedia editor @jakejarviswvu
West Virginia University President Gordon Gee spoke at this year’s first Tea @ Three event. The session attracted the largest group ever gathered for an event in the Towers Blue Room. Sponsored by the Office for Diversity and Global Initiatives in the College of Human Resources and Education, Tea @ Three is an informal way for students to discuss equity in a global community. Gee began the engagement by telling the audience about his decision to return to WVU. “When I asked my daughter what to do, she said, ‘Go home, Dad,’” Gee said. He said he traveled across West Virginia to each of the 55 counties to reinvigorate his commitment to West Virginia and see it with fresh eyes. “I learned two things about this institution: West Virginians love West Virginia,” Gee said. “And there’s a love affair that
people have with this University.” Since WVU is a land grant institution, Gee said the University is unique in that it supplies affordability and accessibility while still offering many research opportunities. He said one of the most important parts of our education is learning from and interacting with people of diverse populations. “If we have people in a school who are all like us, we don’t learn,” Gee said. After a few puzzled looks from the audience, Gee said what’s important is not the quantitative fulfillment of diversity but rather students’ exposure to a diverse set of ideas from different backgrounds In fact, Gee suggested institutions, such as WVU, be organized not by departments or colleges but rather by ideas. After addressing the audience for 30 minutes, Gee transitioned to answer the audience’s questions. Jonathan Hall, an assis-
Kyle Monroe/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
The sisters of Alpha Omicron Pi stand outside of their house on Prospect Street as they welcome potential new members Monday.
Changes to recruitment process improve Greek life on campus by david schlake staff writer @dailyathenaeum
Changes in the recruitment process are proving to make a serious impact around the Greek community at West Virginia University. Recruitment week began Sept. 7 and will continue through Sept. 14. This year the recruiting process is much different for both fraternities and sororities on campus. “Everything is so much more organized,” said Ansh Kumar, the Interfraternity Council President. Kumar, a senior petroleum and natural gas engineering student, holds his position for the second semester and claims that the efficiency of the process is as different as night and day. “This is probably the most successful recruitment week we’ve ever had,” Kumar said. “We’ve already had over 400 students sign up.” Kumar stressed one of the most significant differences this year is the IFC helping to host house tours for every fraternity house, and those frats that don’t have a house will have a place on the Mountainlair Green to promote themselves. “It’s much better than years before because this evens out the playing ground for everyone,” Kumar said. Another critical difference Kumar named was the addition of online registration. “We’ve never had it before, and now we can make sure the guys are even eligible before they sign up,” he said. “It just makes everything go much smoother.” From the sorority side of things, Kristy Lennon, a senior and vice president of re-
see TEA on PAGE 2
Grad school fair to offer information, guidance for students by victoria madden correspondent @dailyathenaeum
West Virginia University will hold a Graduate and Professional School Fair in the Mountainlair Ballrooms from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. today. More than 70 programs and colleges at WVU and several other institutions in the area including the Ohio State University, Virginia Tech and Notre Dame Law School, will be there to answer students’ questions. The fair is a way to help students collect information on how to get into graduate and professional schools. A “How to Apply + Pay for Grad School” information session will be held from 1-1:30 p.m. following the fair. Candi Frazier, the associate director for Financial Aid at the Health Sciences Center Office, said attending the fair is a good start for students who aren’t sure how to prepare for law school or medical school. “Having a graduate degree makes you more competitive. (It is) something that will benefit them and something they can invest in,” Frazier said. Information booths on
University Housing, Financial Aid and Student Employment at WVU will be present as well. This fair will help students understand what graduate school involves and the opportunities it can create. Caitlin Diehl, a senior agribusiness management and rural development student, said she would be very interested in attending the graduate fair. Diehl said she believes it will be beneficial for students to attend the fair, because meeting the different colleges can help students realize what opportunities are available within their selected degree program. During the fair there will be six WVU graduate application fee waivers that will be given away (valued at $60 each), a $100 WVU Bookstore Gift Certificate (donated by the WVU Barnes & Noble bookstore), WVU T-shirts and other giveaways. Students who can’t make it to the fair but want more information can call 304-293-5980 to set up an appointment with the Office of Graduate Admissions and Recruitment. danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
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@WVUSTUDENTS
INSIDE
Find out about the students behind the @WVUStudents account. A&E PAGE 6
PARTLY CLOUDY
News: 1, 2 Opinion: 4 A&E: 3, 6 Sports: 7, 8, 10 Campus Connection: 5 Puzzles: 5 Classifieds: 9
Kyle Monroe/THE DAILY ATHENAEUM
The brothers of Kappa Alpha socialize outside their house on North High Street Monday afternoon.
see recruitment on PAGE 2
Alpha Phi Alpha provides elementary students school supplies by courtney gatto correspondent @dailyathenaeum
The West Virginia University chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha is taking the initiative to better the Morgantown community one backpack at a time. Corey Talley, vice president of Alpha Phi Alpha, and his fraternity collected money to purchase school supplies for students who are in need at two local elementary schools. “We came up with this idea that we’d all chip in money and sponsor kids that can’t afford school supplies,” Talley said. “We bought book bags and filled each of them with school supplies. We got crayons, glue sticks, scissors, folders, composition notebooks, pencils, rulers and erasers.” On Sept. 2, the men took these backpacks and delivered them to two nearby elementary schools:
North Elementary and Eastwood Elementary. They had the chance to visit and talk with the students as they hand delivered the backpacks to each classroom. “It felt great to be able to know that our contribution could help somebody’s child,” Talley said. “Times are hard and not everybody can afford to go buy school supplies for their kids.” Alpha Phi Alpha did this charitable act to help support one of its four national services, My Brother’s Keeper. “What (My Brother’s Keeper) entails is for us to look out for our youth and people who are less fortunate,” Talley said. My Brother’s Keeper is a program that is geared to help kids stay on track by providing support and guidance throughout their school years. It provides guidance and donations, just like the men in this fraternity are offering to the students at the elementary schools. Although this was the first time the
THE DA’s HIRING WRITERS Inquire about paid positions at The Daily Athenaeum at DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu or pick up an application at our office at 284 Prospect St.
CONTACT US Newsroom 304-293-5092 or DAnewsroom@mail.wvu.edu Advertising 304-293-4141 or DA-Ads@mail.wvu.edu Classifieds 304-293-4141 or DA-Classifieds@mail.wvu.edu Fax 304-293-6857
ON THE INSIDE The West Virginia men’s soccer team is hoping to continue to improve along the back line as it gets ready for Thursday’s matchup against UC Irvine. SPORTS PAGE 8
fraternity has done a charity like this, they have no plans on stopping any time soon. They want to give a similar donation again next year as well as try to become more active in the elementary schools and eventually be able to help assist in the lives of some of the students. “I hope this will open up doors for us,” Talley said. “We want to plan on eventually having a program for kids where we can talk to them about making good decisions in life and being smart about things.” Alpha Phi Alpha’s mission is to develop leaders, promote brotherhood and academic excellence, all while providing service and advocacy to their community. Charities like this show the ideals this fraternity holds dear. “We want people to know our fraternity isn’t just about the social scene,” Talley said. “We really do push for doing service.” danewsroom@mail.wvu.edu
GETTING BETTER The West Virginia defense is getting better each week and hopes to continue playing well against Maryland. SPORTS PAGE 10