The inaugural Greek Week at TCU began Monday with a discourse on diversity given by a former fraternity president.Clay Stauffer, a former Sigma Alpha Epilson president who graduated from TCU in 2002, said his viewpoint changed from being a high school senior to an undergraduate at TCU to a graduate student at Princeton in his speech titled “Nine Things I Wish I knew Nine Years Ago.”

Stauffer said he wanted to help students understand the position they’re in from the perspective of someone who has been there.

“College is one window in life where you’re around thousands of people your own age who are in the same boat as you, so you should take advantage of it and not limit yourself to just your own social circle,” Stauffer said.

Matt DiLeo, Interfraternity Council president and event coordinator, said he wanted Stauffer to speak on this subject because the topic is one of the keys for the week to be successful.

DiLeo said it is the first time all four Greek Councils will be together for an event of this magnitude, so having a discussion on diversity will help set the right tone for all the committees.

DiLeo said 30 organizations have been split into five teams at random in an effort to open dialogue among people that may not normally talk and for them to begin by getting to know each other.

James Parker, assistant dean of Campus Life, said he hoped the discourse would prompt dialogue and give the students in attendance a better understanding of different individuals and their different political views, socioeconomic backgrounds as well as the other unique aspects of a person’s background.

“I hope it inspires a thirst for knowledge of people wanting to know more about other people,” Parker said.

DiLeo said he hopes the events will bring everyone together and show that the Greek community can be a powerful force.

“With the strength of our numbers, we can serve a purpose and work toward the betterment of TCU,” DiLeo said.

Cristin Grimes, who is in charge of Greek Week for Sigma Kappa, said the speech is a great way to promote unity.

“It’s a good way to start mixing everyone together,” Grimes said.

DiLeo said the three themes of the week are philanthropy, education and fellowship and these themes will continue to be the focus of the week’s activities.

Greek Week’s events continue today, with a banquet to honor all Greek students who earned a 4.0 GPA in the spring or fall semesters of 2006, Wednesday with a discussion on alcohol awareness by Mike Green, an NCAA-endorsed speaker, and Thursday with the Greek Olympics.