Since August 1^st, Brittany Overstreet has been working as the Coordinator of Greek Life and Assistant Director Student Life and Leadership at Augustana.
Last April, Augustana’s Greek Director resigned and it was unclear as to whether or not the college would terminate the position. The Greek Council expressed concern and they wanted to make sure that the administration knew how important a Greek Life director is. She will work as a liaison between the Greek students and the administration.
About 40 percent of students at Augustana participate in Greek Life. Overstreet will be an advocate and leader for Greek Life. She says that the Greek Life aspect of her job currently has the clearest path right now. The Coordinator of Greek Life has to meet with Greek Executive Board, Greek Council, the leadership teams for every chapter, be their go-to person, and assist them in every aspect of Greek Life. “I am their resource,” Overstreet said, and she wants to learn more about the culture of Greek Life here at Augustana.
Normally with a leadership role, there is less interaction with students, however, Overstreet saw a unique opportunity with the offer from Augustana. Overstreet said, “With this position being a leadership role, I have the opportunity to have a vision for a department, but also be immersed with students, which is why I’m in higher education, because I love working with students… I felt like they wrote the job description for me.”
Her second role as the Assistant Director of Student Life is currently in the making. This first year she says  she’ll be working closely with and learning from Ken Brill, the Director of Student Life and Leadership . She is assisting with International student life. She is looking forward to working with Danny Kim, the Assistant Director of International Student Life. She’ll help with advising, using Starfish, and she has already helped with the International Student Orientation.
Senior and Vice President of Fraternities for Greek Council Joel Nelson has worked with Overstreet on a frequent basis. He said, “Greek Life this year is trying revamp. Not only will we be looking at improving our events that we annually put on, but we are also looking to improve the image of Greek Life as a whole by working with the student and faculty on how to make a positive difference on our campus.”
Nelson said, “Brittany has a bunch of new ideas for our campus, and especially our Greek community, and I am very excited for them. We plan to take this time of transition to do our best to improve Greek Life in many different aspects.”
She will also be an advocate and resource for Student Life Programming Board (SLPB) and Multicultural Programming Board (MPB).
With Greek Executive board she’ll go through a binder that covers alcohol awareness, anti-hazing, and their constitution to make sure they know each topic well.  She also works independently with each position – recruitment chairs, secretary, and treasurer – and they’ll find out what other colleges are doing and see if what works for them will also work for Augustana. She’ll also help identify goals for each position.
Caitlin Amidei is the Vice President of Sororities on the Greek Council. She has been working with Overstreet this year, and Amidei said, “I have really enjoyed working with Brittany thus far. She has a very energetic personality and is excited for her new role. I look forward to continuing to work with her for the rest of the year.”