On Nov. 1, the InterFraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Council and the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs at Cornell University will host a Public Service Day.

The purpose of the Public Service Day is for all fraternities and sororities to participate in community service projects and learn new ways to reach out to the Ithaca community. The day will consist of three events:

• Collegetown Cleanup, involving students and neighborhood residents from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.;
• a Turkey Run at the Cornell Plantations sponsored by Psi Upsilon fraternity, to raise money for the Red Cross;
• a Public Service Day retreat and outreach effort for the officer/philanthropy chairs of each fraternity and sorority.

The Collegetown Cleanup will involve the whole Greek community, as 200 to 300 fraternity and sorority members are expected to join community members for this semiannual event. Junior Joshua E. Brill and senior Charlotte Simpson, vice presidents of university and community relations for the IFC and the Panhellenic Council, respectively, are the chairpersons and will organize the cleanup effort.

"This event," said Brill, "has successfully joined both the efforts of the Greek community at Cornell and the residents of the Ithaca - Collegetown area to pick up trash, tear down old posters and generally improve the cleanliness of Collegetown. We have always had good attendance and efforts at Collegetown Cleanup from students and residents, and we expect this year to be no different."

Additional support is being provided by several Collegetown businesses, the city of Ithaca's Department of Public Works, and two Cornell offices - the Dean of Students and Community Relations.

Volunteers will gather at various times beginning at 11 a.m. in front of the Nines restaurant on College Avenue. From there, teams of students and year-round residents will begin their clean-up effort.

The Public Service Day retreat and outreach effort will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the Taylor Room of Statler Hotel on campus with breakfast and introductions, followed by keynote speaker Cornell alumna Bobbie MacGuffie '46. MacGuffie, a Pi Beta Phi sorority member and a recipient of numerous humanitarian awards, is a surgeon specializing in children's cancers, and plastic and burn surgery. She has been engaged in much public service, including leading aid missions to Africa and establishing a children's hospital in Kenya.

"The Fraternity and Sorority Public Service Day was conceived as a part of the Fraternity and Sorority Strategic Plan," said Randy S. Stevens, Cornell associate dean of students. "The program was designed in partnership with the university Public Service Center to promote service learning and to provide more of a hands-on experience in the community.

"I believe that encouraging these types of service-learning opportunities will greatly increase the value of fraternities and sororities because they seek to cultivate greater social responsibility," Stevens said.

The service outreach portion of the retreat involves participating students going to various sites in Ithaca to volunteer their help and services. The sites include Oak Hill Manor nursing home, the Salvation Army, Titus Towers, the Reconstruction Home and Ithacare. Four team leaders, all student public service volunteers at the Public Service Center, will lead participants through the day's activities.

For more information on Public Service Day or on how to get involved in the Collegetown Cleanup or the Turkey Run, call Kimberly McKenzie, director of chapter services with the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, at 255-3346.