The Greek-letter life community will find itself under new direction this fall.

After five years, Director of Greek-letter life Dean Harwood will leave the University to become the director of fraternity and sorority programs at Eastern Illinois University.

Harwood came to GW in 2005 from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. During his time at GW, approximately 1,000 more students joined Greek-letter life, and 12 new fraternity and sorority chapters were added.

“The level of engagement among students with each other, and the entire campus, has increased noticeably through more activities and stronger connections between students,” Harwood said.

Harwoord officially accepted the new position at EIU June 30. Days later, his formal announcement was sent out in an e-mail to all GW chapter presidents.

“While I would have preferred to do this in person, the timing did not allow this to happen,” Harwood said.

At the end of July, Harwood sent another message to the community reflecting on his experiences at GW, urging for expansion of GW Greek-letter life.

“Dean brought a lot of experience to the table,” said Bill Hulse, president of the Interfraternity Council. “His knowledge of other schools’ Greek systems and their successes was extremely valuable. He helped us overcome some of the challenges of having Greek life on an urban campus.”

Renee Nichols, president of the Panhellenic Association, added that Harwood will be greatly missed.

“Dean had a great presence and influence on Greek life,” she said.

Hulse emphasized Harwood’s guidance on increasing the population and enthusiasm of the Greek-letter community.

Harwood said his decision to leave GW was for personal reasons.

“While I loved my time working with the students, staff and community at GW, my background is that of a small-town, Midwestern guy,” he said. “In order to meet some of my long-term, personal life goals, I felt a need to get back to an environment that can be found in a small college town.”

A new director of Greek-letter life has not yet been selected, but the interviewing process, headed by Student Activities Center Executive Director Tim Miller, will include student leaders and chapter advisers.

The University “was eager to reach out to students to provide feedback on the candidates,” Hulse said. Each Greek council was invited to have lunch with the candidates, and the executive board members from all of the chapters were given the opportunity to meet with the candidates and ask them questions.

Hulse, along with Nichols, is working with Miller to ensure a smooth transition to the coming year under a new director.

“The Greek community at GW is not about who is serving as the director of the office, it is about the students involved,” Harwood said. “After five years the community will benefit by some new ideas and a fresh approach to the position. I expect the community to continue to thrive.”

The new director is expected to be in place early in the fall semester.