JoJo Adofo-Mensah '01 has escaped the summer heat by sitting in his dark, air-conditioned room in Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity.
This doesn't eliminate all of the heat on Adofo-Mensah, though. Despite his expectations six months ago when the Trustees' Social and Residential Life Initiative was announced, the newly elected summer president of the Coed Fraternity Sorority Council is now deeply involved in the fiery debate surrounding the Greek system at Dartmouth.
The 20-year-old economics and African and African-American studies double major was off in the winter when the Initiative was announced, and he never expected to be embroiled in the Greek debate.
The Cherry Hill, N.J. native has held the positions of Tri-Kap social chair and CFSC co-programming liaison. Adofo-Mensah credits his involvement in Tri-Kap with helping him to become more active in the Dartmouth community.
"I would not have gotten involved in as many activities here if I had not joined Tri-Kap. The [Greek] system reaches out to people like me that other organizations do not," he said.
Adofo-Mensah has extensive interests that lie outside the Greek system. He had a hip-hop radio show on WDCR and he has been the historian of the Afro-American Society. Adofo-Mensah has also been the intramural free-throw shooting champion two years in a row and he also played rugby for a short time.
Adofo-Mensah names music as his number one hobby. He listens to hip-hop, jazz, and techno. He also does freestyle rapping in his spare time. Additionally, he follows the music industry and is planning to work on a music documentary in the fall.
"My dream would be to run my own production company where I could take on projects and see them through," he said.
Adofo-Mensah's belief that Tri-Kap has helped him to branch out has given him faith in the Greek system. He spoke passionately about the positive aspects of the Greek system and his disagreement with the way that the Trustee Initiative has come about.
"For the last six months, this school has been frozen. No progress has been made because no one knows what's coming. I understand what the Trustees are trying to do, but I don't think that the Greek system should suffer," he said.
Adofo-Mensah does not think the perceived problems with the Greek system should be misconstrued as problems that do not occur elsewhere.
"The problems we have [at Dartmouth] are the problems everywhere, even at schools that don't have Greek systems. Everyone assumes that Greeks are beer-guzzling idiots, but every type of student is represented in the Greek system. There is something for everyone to have fun with and be a part of," he said.
"A lot of the problems the Trustees have with the Greek system go back to problems within the school. The school itself is exclusive. It is not welcoming to different people," he said frankly.
Adofo-Mensah thinks that people overlook the benefits of the Greek system at Dartmouth and do not recognize the amount of responsibility that its members take upon themselves.
"The Greek system is one of the best leadership preparations. Greek members come together to run a house and pay bills. People forget the level of initiative that students are taking at this school," Adofo-Mensah said.
"[The Greeks] do a lot of great work in the community that they don't get credit for. I am astounded by the number of houses that participate in meaningful community service. It's time to bring things like that to the forefront," he said.
Adofo-Mensah said one of his goals for the CFSC this summer is to have the CFSC join forces with the Student Assembly, Class Council, Native Americans at Dartmouth, and the AAm, as well as other campus groups, in order to "get everyone together to have a good time and bridge some gaps." He said there are plans in the works for a joint event at Storrs Pond.
"This summer should be a time to fix some exclusivity problems. People should meet new people and friendships should get tighter," he said.
Adofo-Mensah acknowledges that "the Greek system is not perfect. It needs changes, but they should be subtle changes."
One change he specifically mentioned is that the Greek system needs to improve its image.
Additionally, he said that the many proposed changes to Interfraternity Council rush rules will have a positive impact on the Greek system.
"It's a step in the direction of Panhell's rush policy, but currently if a guy rushes a house and he's really serious about it, he usually gets in," he said.
"On some levels, fraternities are inclusive in a different kind of way."
