The record-smashing funds raised for this year's Interfraternity Council/Panhellenic Dance Marathon were a highlight for many students involved in Penn State greek life.

"Raising $4.2 [million] was really awesome for us," Panhellenic Council President Annie Larimer said. Larimer added that her favorite point of the semester was Panhellenic Pride Week.

"We had it the first week in April, and it was a really good week," she said. "We had a really great turnout at a lot of events."

Larimer said she also applauded the cooperation during Greek Week.

"We had a lot of collaboration between the four councils," she said. "We worked together more than past years."

Looking forward to next year, Larimer said a "big change" will occur during recruitment periods.

"We voted to push our recruitment back next semester and have it right after homecoming instead of in September," she said.

Chelsea Diehl, Panhellenic Council vice president of communications, said the council pushed back the recruitment date to give new students additional time to decide if they want to rush.

"We feel that greek life is a positive force, and we want as many people as possible to take part in it," she said. "If incoming freshmen have more of a chance to feel out Penn State and understand what schoolwork is and what they want to do, they will be more apt to want to rush."

Vice President of Membership Grant Miller said the Interfraternity Council (IFC) will adhere to the same recruiting schedule as in previous years.

"[Moving recruitment] is something we might consider for the future, but as of now, we are trying a couple other new things that we are hoping will increase our recruitment that doesn't involve pushing it back until homecoming," Miller said.

Another pressing issue both IFC and the Panhellenic Council want to tackle is what Diehl calls "developing a better, more responsible social scene that is safer for all."

IFC Vice President of Standards Stephen Hulick began working on clarifying the Penn State social policy this semester and said he hopes a revisal will be set by fall.

This change in the policy resulted from Panhellenic's initiative to follow its national chapters' bylaws.

Quoted in a previous article, Larimer said the Penn State chapters haven't abided by these rules in the past, and the national organizations have stepped in and are taking action against those breaking the rules. According to most of the bylaws, sororities can only have third-party vendor socials, unless they hold non-alcohol socials at fraternity houses.

Hulick said that to prevent alcohol at fraternity-house socials, two IFC social monitors and two Panhellenic social monitors patrol during the weekends, but the councils check on their chapters separately. The new policy will allow one IFC monitor and one Panhellenic monitor to patrol together, Hulick said.

IFC plans to improve sexual assault education for members through the Fraternity Integrity Alliance Project.

Vice President of Programming Chris Nicolais said he hopes to implement this program to all IFC chapters after further development during the summer.

The recognition of three new chapters tops the list of memorable achievements for Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) president Jason Mano-haran.

"Having these organizations allows for a more diverse council for students to choose from," he said. "Throughout the semester, the events we had brought the council together, which makes us better to reach other students."

With the addition of Latina, Christian and Asian chapters last month, MGC has developed ties with a dozen chapters.

Alpha Nu Omega fraternity President David Rhoden said one new member was inducted since the inauguration of the chapter, bringing the member total to five.

"Not only will we build relations on campus but build membership from within," Rhoden said. "As soon as we get more hands, we will be able to do more for the community."

With the recent Greek Week providing exposure for MGC, Manoharan said future publicity events are in discussion.

"We are planning a theme week to make it open to the whole campus," he said. "Getting our name out there will be educational and fun."

Rhoden said the most meaningful moment during the fraternity's short tenure on campus was gaining official acknowledgment from the university.

"We worked hard in finally getting recognized and laying a foundation at Penn State," Rhoden said.

Greek Week 2006 Public Relations Overall Chairman Randy Winder said that after the success of the four councils working together during Greek Week, he hopes for more cross-council programs.