By: Jasmine Saunders, Editor-in-Chief
In the wake of the events from last year’s Homecoming debacle, the area around the sorority and fraternity plots are being renovated as a safety precaution.
On the Saturday of Homecoming last year, a drunk driver struck seven people with their car around the Greek picnic area, as reported by The News Journal last October. As a result of this incident, the ensuing activities were cancelled.
The area was closed and no other events were to be held there. It was reopened September 20 of this year, said Mark A. Smith II, the coordinator of the Office of Student Leadership and Activities (OSLA).
For this year, Delaware State University will be taking extra precautions by installing a gate near the parking lot between Conrad and Conwell Halls.
The new gate installed near Parking Lot 7 between Conrad Hall (right) and Conwell Hall (not pictured)
“The renovations are for the safety of the students and families,” said Landon Bailey, the president of DSU’s chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
Not only are the renovations for the protection of the overall populace, but they specifically protect the Greek organizations as well.
Kiyana Hampton, a member of the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority Inc., spoke about Greeks being held responsible for some of the incidents that have happened on campus, including the accident last year.
“Anything that happens on the plots, the Greeks get blamed for it, even if [they] aren’t responsible,” said she said.
In addition to the gate, the area around the Greek plots went through a beautification process by installing more trees and shrubbery as well as the Greek organizations retouching their areas.
“They are pulling out weeds and repainting [the] sidewalks and bricks,” said Bailey.
Despite all the changes that are happening in the area, there is more to come.
“There are more renovations in the near future,” Smith said. “We don’t want to disrupt the academic and social culture of the university.”
However, he could not provide a specific time frame.
Categories: Campus News