By Kionna Stanley

The Divine 9 Greek-letter organizations on campus are kicking off the semester the right way. The National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) held the Annual Greek Retreat on Saturday, September 8th in the MLK Parlors. This event was hosted by Rasheed Ali Cromwell, a speaker and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Incorporated.

At the start of the retreat, the members of the NPHC began with an icebreaker to get comfortable with one another. The first icebreaker was a Q&A activity where members were told to partner up and listen for the question said aloud that they would then ask to one another. When the time was up, they would find a new partner and there would be a new question. Easy right?

The following icebreaker included the use of partners as well. However, this time around the members were asked to verbally list things about themselves aloud while facing one another. It might have gotten slightly challenging or even a little uncomfortable for some. All in all, members of the D9 were given an opportunity to get to know someone they might have never spoken to before. This was Rasheed’s goal and it was very effective.

Unity is important. The idea of this was emphasized throughout the retreat. The members present all represented various organizations that have some common values. Because of this, it is understood that we must support and uplift everyone regardless of any differences.

Members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated: Kashif Williams, John Blackson, Markese Elliott, Olasubomi Awodiya, Steven Ortiz, Tarik Jackson, and Olamide Laosebikan

Many valuable lessons were taken from the retreat. During the retreat, the members of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated, the Pi Eta Chapter, mentioned that they were “Learning the importance of knowing your self-worth and fulfilling your mission.” The members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the Delta Lambda Chapter, said, “We learned how to be unified and come up with new community service ideas as a yard.”

The members of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Incorporated, the Upsilon Chapter, wished a big thanks to Rasheed Ali Cromwell saying, “Thank you @sheedyali for reminding us that we need to know who we are and constantly use our platform to display our sorority’s values.”