Ashland University may be a small campus, but it is definitely one filled with a lot of service-oriented students.

When you look at the number of students that get involved with community service, it appears that most of them are affiliated with Greek Life.

This raises the question: Are they volunteering because they want to or because they have to?

As a member of Greek Life, a specific number of service hours is required.

Some may think that Greeks only volunteer because it is mandatory; however, the evidence seems to prove otherwise.

During the 2011-12 school year, those affiliated with Greek Life volunteered for a total of 5074.5 hours. Non-Greeks volunteered for a total of 2897.75 hours.

In contrast, it was the exact opposite during the 2010-11 year. Non-Greeks accumulated 4835 hours of community service, versus a Greek Life total of only 2290.75 hours.

It seems that community service has little to do with being mandatory and more to do with being about the idea of giving back.

Mariah Moyers, the student tracker of community service hours, said, “There are often people who really do like to do community service who just happen to be involved in Greek Life.”

Often times when going through recruitment, students like to look at the different philanthropies that each sorority or fraternity represents.

Alpha Phi Joni Gill thought very hard on which sorority she was going to join because of the philanthropies each supports.

Community service is something that most college students are very passionate about, according to director of community service Juliet Thomas.

She feels that students love to “make their mark in the world” and really love to get involved.

“People have matching morals,” said Hunger Team co-leader Amanda Kriner. “They join a sorority/fraternity because they like helping people and they know that this will give them the opportunity to do so.”

She said that those that volunteers, even if they are Greek, do it because they want to, not because they have to.

Community service is an essential part of Ashland University’s culture, even appearing in the school’s motto.

It appears that students observe this; volunteering runs deep in the veins of AU students.