About Me:
Hello, my name is Dylan DeRaud. I’m a senior journalism major and business minor here at Texas State since 2019. I transferred from the University of North Texas up in Denton, TX after my freshman year. I had originally hoped to transfer to the University of Texas looking for a fresh start but ultimately ended up in San Marcos in the summer of 2019 and have been happy ever since. I’m currently serving my last semester here at Texas State with the hope of graduating this upcoming May.
After graduating I plan to move to Scottsdale, AZ with some freinds of mine to pursue a career in sports reporting or start my own business. At the moment I currently work at a plastics company in Austin where I monitor inventory and the shipment and/or receiving of product. On the side, I’m an intern for TheOldCoach which is a multimedia sports website that I cover high school football or basketball for.
Some of my favorite things to do in my free time include hiking, playing/watching sports and reading. My favorite books are the Harry Potter series, Percy Jackson series and Dune. Down the line I hope I can hike some beautiful places in Europe and Asia when I actually have the money too.
Resume:
Capstone Project – MC4386
Greek Life on Campus Will Not Go Away
Despite all the controversy, Greek Life provides too many positives for student’s social lives and college retention rates to just get rid of them.
By Dylan DeRaud
djd133@txstate.edu
Greek Life around the United States has an infamous history that does not fail to be unreported in today’s time. Texas State University is no stranger to this history either with the campus’s own storied history adding to the controversy.
Wasn’t long ago that former student, Matthew Ellis, died of alcohol poisoning provided by his fraternity brothers of Phi Kappa Psi. The fraternity was kicked off-campus and Texas State has been making attempts to build their reputation back up for the past five years. Leading the effort towards a complete culture change is Bob Dudolski, Assistant Dean of Students at Texas State University. Dudolski was hired around 10 years ago in the spring of 2013 and has since faced many challenges during his tenure.
“There were some major tragedies on this campus that were driven by five fraternities in particular, and those organizations were promptly closed,” Dudolski said. “By closing those old groups, it cleared a path for the new groups to change the culture. So after the moratorium of the great community in 2017, and 2018, the community regrouped. And I do feel like 2018 moving forward, we have made some tremendous strides. There is a core value and focus on being a good student, focusing on service and philanthropy and being leaders on campus.”
The past narrative about Greek Life has been everything but flattering towards students going to campus as undergrads looking for social outlets during the semester. Through Dudolski’s efforts to revamp the stigma past organizations have left on the remaining Greek groups, the university has seen positives come out of joining these brotherhoods/sisterhoods. The consistent theme of the data shows that the accountability fraternities and sororities hold their members to, lead to above average showings in total GPA averages. According to the Texas State University Fraternity Sorority Life website, in the fall of 2021, students with membership amongst recognized groups had higher GPAs compared to unaffiliated students. The combined averages of all Greek Life organizations were .03 grade points higher respectively, than the combined grades of the rest of the 33,607 members of the student body.
Now just .03 points higher isn’t much statistically when comparing what the overall grades of the student body is making compared to the 1,789 members of the greek community. However, Texas State sororities boast an average GPA of 3.02 compared to the rest of the women’s student population that sits at an average of 2.87. These results don’t come without leaders amongst the community stressing to undergrad members just how important grades are in order to maintain membership. Marion Rodriguez, member of Sigma Lambda Gamma Sorority and President of the Multicultural Greek Council, spoke about how the pressure the sorority places upon members to bring out the best in each of them. By being a part of the sisterhood, girls have an obligation to present themselves positively in the community, maintain high grades and be leaders for others.
Youtube Channel – The DeRaudMessinger Show:
Contact Page:
Feel free to reach out to me at dylanderaud@gmail.com and connect with me on LinkedIn at dylanderaud.
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