By Grace Sims
Contributing Writer
This year, Sewanee welcomes a new Director of Greek Life, Colin Nelson-Pinkston. Besides wanting to hike the Perimeter Trail, Nelson-Pinkston is excited to observe and meet with the leaders of Greek Organizations on campus to find out how he can support and enhance the Greek community.
“This first year I want to kind of listen more than I talk,” Nelson-Pinkston said. “Figuratively, obviously, because there’s going to be things that I need to speak up on. But I think that if I came here with an agenda, that would be a great way to lose the ears of people in the community.”
Nelson-Pinkston spoke passionately about his experience with Greek organizations, which began the first day of his freshman year at the University of Iowa when he joined Lambda Chi Alpha.
“I was the academic chairman for awhile. I was a ritualist for awhile, and then did some stuff on the international level for my fraternity,” Nelson-Pinkston said. “But really, I was one of those members that gained a lot from the support system that the chapter offered and was able to get a lot out of it because there were people that invested in my experience, so that’s why I wanted to be in a role like this, so I can help invest in other people’s experiences, that way they can get what they want to out of their college experience and beyond.”
Nelson-Pinkston has worked with fraternity and sorority students on 53 different campuses across the country coordinating Greek retreats, leadership training, and overseeing programs. He also spent the last year working with the Business Honors program at the University of Texas at Dallas. He has experience with not only student conduct and leadership development, but also the academic aspect of Greek organizations.
“I think my experience last year working with the Business Honors program really provided a different lens and a different set of skills that will help me engage the students here and see how we can connect the Greek experience with the academic experience,” he explained.
Sewanee is excited to see the influence Nelson-Pinkston will have on our ever-changing Greek system, which remains central to student life on campus.