At a time when the University of Alabama’s Greek Life seems to be getting trampled by national media, one student is selflessly devoting his time to turning the image of UA Greeks into a more positive one. Although senior Myles Ward’s time as President of Alabama’s National Pan-Hellenic Council, the reigning council for nine historically African American fraternities and sororities, comes to a close, he will leave a legacy that he hopes continues into the future.

Ward attended Vestavia Hills High School in Birmingham, Ala. before choosing to attend the University of Alabama. After having been a member of the basketball team, executive board for Relay for Life and the National Honor Society, he set his sights on college at Alabama and joining the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

 “I have been coming to Tuscaloosa since I was 9 years old, and I’ve always loved being here,” Ward said. “I was presented with the opportunity to join a fraternity freshman year. There have been several role models in my life, and I can honestly say two-thirds of them were Alphas.” 

If by joining Alpha Phi Alpha Myles hoped to mold himself into a role model much like his own, he has surely done that in his time here. It began when Myles formed a friendship with the President of Interfraternity Council (IFC), Salim Alameddin. IFC oversees 28 other fraternities outside of the NPHC’s fraternities.

 “Somehow Salim and I became really good friends, and it was a coincidence that we were both Presidents of our councils,” said Ward. “One thing we have tried to do is make sure that our personal relationship fed into our business. We have been pushing for more genuine interactions between members of the different Greek councils because at the end of the day we all have similar interests. We hope those interactions will trickle down into our younger members. We wanted to show them that diversity is not and should not be an issue. Hopefully we are leading by example.” 

Ward believes the best way to increase diversity and interaction in Greek life is through philanthropy. This past year Ward, who serves as the social chair for Alpha Phi Alpha, and Leslie DeRamus, social chair for Alpha Kappa Alpha organized their joint philanthropy event the Golden Gala. With the help of IFC and the National Panhellenic Conference, which consists of the female sororities outside of NPHC at Alabama, they raised $12,500 for the Ronald McDonald House in Birmingham and for childhood cancer. Ward was thankful for Alameddin and Hannah McBrayer, President of Panhellenic, for giving Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha the opportunity to present their philanthropy with people in other councils, and for their help in raising money. 

“That project was the catalyst for what could happen between councils in the future. I truly believe that philanthropy is the best thing to collaborate on,” Ward said. “At the end of the day it’s not about you or your chapter, but about a bigger cause.” 

What would Ward like to see in addition to collaborative philanthropy events? Collaborative social events. He has a vision for swaps in the future that are made up of fraternities and sororities from different councils.

 “There are things that have been in place that are supposed to foster the relationship between NPHC fraternities, IFC, and Panhellenic now, but they are seldom used as a tool to come together,” said Ward. “The Greek Affairs office has done a great job of coming up with, for example, collaborating for homecoming and Greek week. I think if we really start taking advantage of those initiatives it would help a lot.” 

 Ward hopes that the current leadership in NPHC, IFC and Panhellenic provides an example that the upcoming leaders will emulate and continue into the future. This is the first time that these leaders have focused on the relationships between their councils as much as they have in the past year. 

“One of the biggest successes for the Greek community was the President’s cocktail that Hannah McBrayer planned last spring. That gave chapter presidents and council presidents the opportunity to come together on a social level,” Ward said. “We weren’t bound by the formality of a meeting, and it really spurred change. It was something that needed to take place for different people to understand one another.” 

When Ward is not working as President for NPHC, he is working as Executive Treasurer for the Student Government Association, planning events as social chair for Alpha Phi Alpha, attending meetings for Jason’s, a prominent honor society, and attending a 17-hour class load for chemical engineering. How does he balance all these positions? 

“No time to sleep and no time to eat,” explains Ward. It is hard work, but he is happy to give back to the school that has given so much to him. He knows that his work could make a difference for the future of the school.

 “Basically in the future I want to come back to campus and see all of Alabama’s Greek Life collaborating without any issues or tension,” Ward said. “I want the collaboration to become commonplace: not something we have to do, but something we look forward to doing."