Outstanding Greek of the Week: Taylor Jackson

Taking four or five classes a semester is enough to keep most students extremely busy with attending classes, doing homework and studying for exams. In reality, however, the average college student is not only focused on school, but also on clubs, friends, family, sports and simply enjoying the college life. Taylor Jackson, a member of Sigma Chi and president of the Interfraternity Council, is someone that has a lot more to work on than simply passing his classes.

When Jackson is not working on homework for the 15 credits he is taking, he is busy participating in multiple groups and organizations. He is a member of Sigma Chi and president of the IFC.  Jackson also participates in the Financial Management Association, is a member of Pi Sigma Epsilon—a sales, marketing and management fraternity—and is a Free Mason.

“These were all opportunities that were presented to me,” Jackson said. “When I came to college, I wanted to be involved on campus.”

Jackson has gone above and beyond getting involved. Last year, he acted as president of Sigma Chi and vice president of the IFC. Although he is no longer the president of Sigma Chi, he has assumed presidency of the IFC. While Jackson has held both presidential positions, he says they are nothing alike.

“In Sigma Chi, I was able to hold multiple positions before building up to the presidency, allowing me to gain respect,” Jackson said. “I shared my vision with my fraternity brothers and got them on board. As president of the IFC, however, it is much harder to get the fraternities to work together and to go in one direction. I need to be able to do what I did with Sigma Chi and reproduce it on a different level.”

Now that Jackson is focusing on his new IFC presidency, he is trying to rebuild and reshape the Greek community here at Central. Jackson, along with the other members of the IFC, are trying to start a program where chapters will report its statistics, academic grades and the progress they are making with fundraising.

Jackson also mentioned that they are working on a campus-wide philanthropic event for next fall that will be record-breaking for the entire community, as well as for students, families and even people from out of town.

“The goal of this philanthropic event is to get the Greek community to work together with the surrounding communities,” Jackson said. “We are trying to reach a common goal together—raising money for charity—in hopes that it will bring us together. At the same time, the goal is to give a large amount of people a great experience with members of the Greek community, which will hopefully help to overcome negative opinions of Greek society.”

While Jackson is working on bettering the Greek community, his schoolwork is more than enough to keep him occupied. He is double majoring in marketing and sales along with logistics, and has a double minor in both real estate development and finance. Although he isn’t scheduled to graduate until May 2013, Jackson claims that his involvement in Greek life is slowly coming to an end.

“I’m almost on my way out of the Greek community,” Jackson said. “I’m more goal-oriented on school and towards my professional life.”

After graduation, Jackson hopes to one day have a leadership position at a bank, sales firm or a financial institute, perhaps with a job in business consulting.

Before his time here is over, however, he hopes to leave a lasting impression for his fellow Greek members.

“I want to leave all the chapters with some wisdom and resources that will allow them to be successful in the long run,” Jackson said.

As for his brothers at Sigma Chi, Jackson wants them to remember the most important thing of all.

“It’s vital for people in leadership roles to be passionate because you can’t fake passion. When I was a new member of Sigma Chi, I was most inspired by members talking to us passionately. In order to have a successful fraternity, you have to try to inspire new members. You can’t inspire anyone unless you are truly passionate about what you’re talking about.”