Wharton senior Christian Lunoe submitted his resignation as president of the Interfraternity Council this past Thursday. This decision was not an easy one, and took lots of serious thought and courage. The IFC Executive Board would like to take this opportunity to commend our president, and more importantly our friend, Christian “Vegas” Lunoe, for his term of service that is best characterized by hard work, creativity and honor.
Vegas burst out of the gate early in his term by launching a comprehensive website that features content on all things IFC. He managed to seamlessly coordinate this platform with social networking services that would enable communication among all members of the IFC, the other Greek councils and the Penn community. He worked tirelessly to raise thousands of dollars for Haitian relief in a matter of days — astonishing fellow board members and mobilizing the entire Greek community.
Vegas then turned his attention to IFC expansion, and under his guidance, the forum of IFC presidents voted to expand the already strong community by welcoming two new and diverse chapters to the IFC body. He coordinated information sessions for incoming freshmen and their parents about the positive contributions of the Greek community, emphasizing the opportunities for social, academic and moral growth that make fraternity and sorority life so great. Over the summer, with Lunoe’s guidance and with IFC Vice President of Academics and College senior Jeff Lipman’s hard work, the IFC collaborated with the Undergraduate Assembly to launch the Penn Book Bazaar, a free textbook exchange to cut out middle men and save students money on their textbooks—a hugely successful initiative.
Vegas saw the importance of continuous feedback early on and held several town hall events to assess the strengths, weaknesses and demands of the Greek community. Finally, he streamlined our headline semesterly event, Greek Week, and put a University-wide recognition of Greek contributions to Penn at the forefront of our objectives. The sum of these initiatives and others is an improved undergraduate experience that future students can never fully appreciate.
The common denominator underlying all that Lunoe did for us was a genuine concern for the well being of all Greeks. He represented our interests and echoed our voices with passion to the University. Vegas knew that bringing people together using technology, mobilizing the masses for charitable drives and enhancing the academic and social experience would be the best way to leave his mark on the Greek community. As a leader, that is his legacy.
Christian “Vegas” Lunoe should be thanked and respected as someone who saw the importance of aligning the goals of the IFC with those of the entire Penn community, and as someone who made that vision come true. He built strong relationships with the UA and important administrative offices that have a significant influence on undergraduate life. Lunoe, in ways both big and small, made Penn a better place, not because he had to as IFC president, but because he loves this school. He has positioned the IFC for unprecedented success in the enhancement of Greek life, and for that we are grateful.
Finally, we would like to take this opportunity to wish Lunoe the best of luck for the remainder of his senior year. As aforementioned, his decision to resign took courage, but ultimately it reflects his unwavering devotion to the success of the IFC. Putting the interests of IFC chapters above the completion of his own term was a remarkable and honorable sacrifice; but that is simply what Vegas does — he brings people together and helps us on our way. Always with a smile, Vegas was phenomenal not only because of what he did for us, but because of what he inspired us to do for ourselves. He is a great friend, but he is also our brother and we will miss him when he graduates.
With the loyalty and admiration of the IFC, the Executive Board thanks our friend Vegas.
The IFC Executive Board wrote this column. Its president is Wharton senior Pete Becker. The authors can be contacted at upennifc@gmail.com.
