Professional fraternities are organizations that represent specific careers fields. They offer service opportunities and give students the chance to network and socialize with others who have similar dreams and aspirations. Drake University’s array of professional fraternities is impressive, and Epsilon Eta is no exception.
Epsilon Eta is a professional environmental science fraternity. As with social fraternities and sororities, prospective members go through a recruitment process before becoming full members.
Third-year student Maddie Weinrich is co-president of Epsilon Eta. She joined the organization in 2019 as a way to network with like-minded students.
“I decided to go through recruitment since I was eager to meet other environmental science majors and minors,” Weinrich said. “It was actually the first semester that EH had become an on-campus organization, so it was awesome to be a part of the founding class.”
Since then, the fraternity has grown. Currently, Epsilon Eta has temporary registered student organization status, meaning the fraternity’s petition to become an official registered student organization is being considered.
Epsilon Eta’s executive council has big goals for the future, should the petition be accepted.
“Our goals with the fraternity are really straightforward,” said Camryn Kubicki, a third-year student and co-president of Epsilon Eta. “Create an environment within this chapter that facilitates meaningful interactions between members, provide applicable and relevant professional development opportunities to introduce members to careers involving environmental science, and give back to the surrounding community.”
In pursuit of these goals, Kubicki and Weinrich strive to preserve and encourage socialization amongst members despite the circumstances brought on by COVID-19 by hosting virtual events.
“I am looking forward to spring recruitment next week,” Weinrich said. “This year, recruitment is space themed and we have tons of virtual activities planned such as outer space Kahoot/Jeopardy!, a viewing of the Mars rover landing, and overall getting to know awesome new members.”
The events are a unique opportunity to meet new people, especially during a time when connecting with peers is harder than ever.
“I knew hardly any sustainability and resilience majors, or aquatic and earth science concentration people before I joined Epsilon Eta, and now those people that I hardly knew a few years ago are some of my closest friends,” Kubicki said.
Epsilon Eta seeks to create opportunities for students to develop new skills and forge new relationships, all while indulging in a passion for the environment.
“I think Epsilon Eta is a great professional fraternity to be a member of and it reaps a lot of benefits for members,” said new member and first-year environmental science student Jenna Baker. “It’s really enjoyable, everyone in the fraternity is very nice and welcoming, especially the executive council. They work so hard to make chapters worthwhile and make fun and engaging events.”
For more information, connect with Epsilon Eta on Instagram and Facebook.
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