| Going
Greek
By Nancy Alexander
 |
| Leading
Purdue’s three agricultural Greek-letter organizations
are presidents (from left) Jason Morehouse, FarmHouse; Erin
Menchhofer, Sigma Alpha; and Derek Rodgers, Alpha Gamma Rho.
(Photo by Tom Campbell) |
Derek
Rodgers is a junior majoring in agricultural
economics with an emphasis on farm management and a special
interest in specialty/niche markets. His family’s 3,000-acre
farm in Jay County produces corn, soybeans and wheat in addition
to hog finishing and freezer beef operations. After Rodgers earns
his degree, he might spend three to seven years in the business
world to hone his skills in finance, customer service and management.
And then when he returns home, “I think I’d be an asset
to our family farming corporation,” he says. Jason
Morehouse is the first member of his family to attend college.
The junior agricultural economics major grew up on a 2,000-acre
grain farm in Elkhart County that has been in his family for six
generations. Morehouse enjoys a broad range of business classes
that build on his entrepreneurial initiative. As a high school sophomore
he bought a machine to launch his own detassling business; its growth
and profits are financing his Purdue education. While his post-graduation
plans are flexible, Morehouse expects to return eventually to join
five other family members in having “a hand in the farm.” Erin Menchhofer
is a sophomore consumer and family science education major from
Osgood, Ind. Her family has a large swine and crop farm in Ripley
County, and Menchhofer and her sister also have a sheep farm. After
graduating from high school, she deferred her Purdue admission for
one year so she could serve as Indiana State FFA www.ffa.org/ Southern
Region Vice President. Menchhofer was one of seven state officers
who collectively traveled more than 10,000 miles to promote agriculture
and youth leadership among high school students, business and industry,
and other organizations. These three high-achieving students share more than
a rural upbringing. As fraternity and sorority presidents, they
are at the helm of Purdue’s three Greek-letter organizations
with strong agricultural ties and traditions. Students who are interested in “going Greek”
at Purdue can choose from among 40 fraternities
and 19 sororities;
by anyone’s standards, that’s a sizeable Greek system.
The members of two fraternities—Alpha
Gamma Rho (AGR) and FarmHouse—and
one sorority—Sigma
Alpha —agree that membership based on their common interest
in agriculture is great for academics, friendship and networking. Agriculture is changing, and the Greek-letter organizations
associated with it are adapting their programming to reflect those
changes. While the number of students joining sororities and fraternities
nationwide has declined over the past decade, Purdue’s agricultural
houses are holding their own. To add a distinctive twist
to the tribute, Gershon devised a plan to put the 53 prints up for
bid on e-bay, the popular Internet auction site, selling one print
a week for a year. Each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia,
and Pacific and Caribbean islands were denoted to benefit from the
sale of a print during a designated week. The selling price for
that week was split equally between the Council and the representative
4-H foundation.
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