A Helping Hand For Future Students

For college students everywhere, working to pay the bills while working toward a degree is a familiar routine. For many, finances are too tight to afford extras such as fraternity or sorority dues.

That’s why South Carolina seniors Greyson Fox Tran and John “J.T.” Isgett hope their new effort on behalf of the university’s Interfraternity Council will make the grind a little less tough for some students in the fraternity community. Isgett and Fox Tran serve in leadership positions on the council, which this year contributed $25,000 in surplus funds to endow a new needs-based scholarship for fraternity members.

“Some of my friends work full-time jobs, and they’re going to school full time, paying tuition and rent and dues—I know that can be a struggle,” says Fox Tran, a public health major who plans to attend medical school after graduation. “This scholarship is for individuals like that who are maybe struggling to cover their expenses.”

The Interfraternity Council oversees 23 of the university’s fraternity chapters, which, together with the university’s other 26 fraternity and sorority organizations, account for about one-fifth of the overall student population on campus. Isgett, a political science major with plans to attend law school, says even more students are interested in joining the university’s Greek community.

“There are a lot of students who really want to be a part of it and can’t because they’re too concerned about paying tuition, making sure they’ve got food on the table and a roof over their heads,” Isgett says. “That’s a lot of our motivation for creating this scholarship—to help alleviate some of the financial burden of being a college student and participating in Greek life.”

The IFC Community Equity Endowed Scholarship will be awarded to its first recipients this fall. Going forward, the Interfraternity Council plans to make periodic contributions to grow the endowment and fund more scholarships.