I am continually astounded when confronted with the intellectual achievements of my fellow Greek students. 

While sororities and fraternities are labeled as social organizations, they also are filled with people who excel academically and use their organizations as a platform to help others succeed academically. 

On Friday, Jan. 24, I spent the day packed in Meacham with a bunch of smart people – a large majority of whom were in Greek organizations – watching the third annual TEDxOU. For those of you who don’t know what TEDxOU is, it is an independently organized outcropping of TED, a non-profit dedicated to holding conferences with speakers discussing “ideas worth sharing.” TEDxOU is OU’s version, planned specifically by OU students in order to discuss pressing issues in our community.

One of our IFC brothers, Akash Patel – a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, was brave enough to share his nightmarish past as an illegal immigrant in order to highlight serious problems that immigrants face when seeking citizenship and a higher education. In an incredibly passionate, moving and eloquent speech, Akash used his experiences to communicate a little-known, but vitally important flaw in our immigration system and everyone in the audience was captivated.

Patel valiantly represented others like himself who have struggled through the nation's inefficient immigration system and loopholes and focused our attention on the problems with this system. He also demonstrated the importance of maintaining diversity, of all types, within our organizations. His opening quip was a joke about how it didn’t make sense to his brothers that he used to be an illegal immigrant because he wasn’t Mexican, which further highlights the need of the Greek community to focus on diversification and eliminating stereotypes.

One of Patel’s fraternity brothers, sophomore Taylor Lapham, said, “it was so impressive to me to see any member of the Greek community, much less one of my own brothers, have the intellectual fortitude and courage to tell his story to the world and use it as a platform to not only discuss important ideas, but also to make a real, concrete difference in the community.” 

Patel has worked with organizations such as the Oklahoma legislature and the American Civil Liberties Union to broaden the programs offered to counsel illegal immigrant students about the resources available for continuing their education. He made it clear to everyone that hard-working, intelligent students should not be punished because of the inefficiency of the U.S. bureaucracy, especially since this population is at-risk of discrimination in the workplace and potential gang-related violence.

I was so encouraged to see nearly two dozen of Patel’s fraternity brothers at TEDxOU, there to learn from him and support him. The members of Pi Kappa Phi who attended were determined to open their minds to diversity and open their hearts to the struggles and mission of a fraternity brother. We can all take a great lesson from these guys. Diversity is essential to upholding the values set forth by our founders and. at the end of the day, there is nothing more important than supporting our brothers and sisters when they’re chasing a goal that comes from the heart.