Members of the four greek councils are working to build a more unified greek community at Penn State.

Executive board members of the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) and Panhellenic Council (PHC) joined together this weekend in a two-day retreat, which was held about a half-hour away in Milroy.

IFC President Brian Bertges said the retreat helped make the greek community's goals and actions more achievable as one unified group. "It is time to really unite all four councils," he said. "This weekend helped us see what values each council stands for, and we learned a lot from each other."

Bertges said each council will make their training programs, such as Training for Intervention Procedures (TIPS) and sexual assault prevention education, universally available to all members of the greek community. "Sometimes the IFC has access to more resources, and we want to make all the councils on the same level," he said.

MGC President Kristie Chong said other goals set for this semester include creating a Web site that features all four greek councils and reaching out to the community.

MGC Vice President Usha Nair said the experiences of the past weekend will make it easier for the four councils to communicate in the future.

"Prior to this event, the councils didn't know each other," she said. "After the team building, we are a lot more familiar with one another."

NPHC President Randy Winder said each council taught one another about their values. "We focused more on the microscopic details and teaching each other about our councils," he said. "We also created new goals for the greek community as a whole."

The retreat also encouraged the councils to plan a more integrated greek week in the spring, hosting events that all four councils participate in, Bertges said.

Bertges said in addition to making an effort to connect all four councils, the greek pride initiative was also discussed.

Jared Brown, assistant director of fraternity and sorority life, helped organize the second annual retreat.

"The success of the first retreat prompted us to continue this new tradition," he said.

Brown said the weekend was used to help build relationships between the new executive boards, set goals and discuss the greek pride initiative.

"The student leaders learn so much about each other's councils, chapters, programs and goals," Brown said.

"It helps to set the tone for the upcoming year and help the [executive councils] to really learn and work together as a unified community," he said.

Brown said because of the success of the two past retreats, the tradition will continue in the following years.

"I know that this retreat will continue to be successful," he said. "The relationships that are built are all worth the time and experience."