Boulder – New University of Colorado football coach Dan Hawkins urged members of CU’s fraternities and sororities on Wednesday to join him in helping to improve CU’s battered reputation.
Hawkins was the headline speaker at an event titled “CU and Its Greeks: Common Values and Common Goals,” hosted by CU’s Greek community as part of its annual Greek Week events. Hawkins said he wants to build a football team that reflects well on the university.
“I’m here to provide a good example for you and a window into your lives,” he said. “I don’t want people to view you as losers. I want people thinking of you as classy people, as exciting people, as being on the cutting edge.”
Restoring pride, both to the campus and the Greek system, was a theme of the night’s speakers, who included other athletic department, administration and alumni figures.
And the night was a reminder of just how much things had changed in the past couple of years for the athletic department, the Greek system and the university – ranging from the death of a fraternity pledge to the scandals and losses that brought down previous football coach Gary Barnett.
More recently, CU fraternities temporarily banned alcohol from all their events after the death of a CU freshman who had attended a fraternity party about 15 hours before he was found dead. Authorities have not determined whether alcohol was involved in the death.
Those at the event Wednesday night said the athletic department and the Greek system have turned a corner for the better.
“We’ve had a little bit of a tough time lately, haven’t we?” CU Alumni Association president Kent Zimmerman asked the 300 people in attendance. “But it’s a new day.”
“A year ago today, there was a question whether we’d be here today,” Marc Stine, an advocate for CU’s fraternities, said after the event. “I think the fraternities and the university have learned a lot in the last year.”
In recent student government elections, two of the three new student-body presidents elected are Greeks, along with at least three representatives.
“I think this is our chance to erase the lines that divide us,” said Chris Kline, a Zeta Beta Tau member and one of those new representatives. “Now we belong because we’ve earned our right to belong.”
Dean of students Elease Robbins encouraged fraternity and sorority members to be leaders on campus and to give back to the community, through service and philanthropy.
“Be the ones the rest of the campus says, ‘I want to be like them. Those are great folks,”‘ she said.
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
