It’s officially Greek Week, a.k.a. the best time of year for fraternities and sororities. The organizations have the opportunity to show each other what they’ve really got in competitions such as the talent show, field games, trivia test, and penny wars. Even better, Greek Week also means it is formal season. Basically, the best of both worlds combined into one.
The 2015 Greek Week is being held from Monday, April 20 to Friday, April 24. Fraternities and sororities were paired up by size to be teammates throughout the week. This year, the Greek Senate decided to encourage Greek unity even further by allowing each fraternity and sorority pair to design and wear the same t-shirts to be entered into the t-shirt competition, in which Phi Sigma Sigma (PhiSig) and Delta Tau Delta (DTD) placed first. Each organization also had the opportunity to pick a movie that aligns with the theme of the week, Disney.
Alpha Kappa Psi (AKPsi), Lambda Theta Alpha (LTA), and Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) make up team “Aladdin,” Alpha Omicron Pi (AOPi) and Theta Xi chose “Lion King,” Alpha Sigma Tau (AST), Zeta Tau Alpha (ZTA), and Tau Delta Phi (TDPhi) took “Hercules,” Alpha Xi Delta (AXiD) and Sigma Pi (SigPi) are team “Tarzan,” Delta Phi Epsilon (DPhiE) and Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) chose “PeterPan,” and PhiSig and DTD make up the “Frozen” team. Phi Kappa Psi (PhiPsi) and Sigma Tau Gamma (STG) are not participating this year.
“I am loving seeing the teams working together to compete and have fun,” said Jon Buchalski, Assistant Director of Student Activities for Fraternity and Sorority Life. “It’s only the beginning and I know it will only get better.”
Kicking off Greek Week this past Sunday was the free throw competitions. Organizations met on the Great Lawn at noon to participate in the bag toss, egg toss, baseball throw for distance, football throw for distance, football punt for distance, and the Frisbee throw.
PhiSig and DTD tied with AXiD and SigPi in the egg toss competition. In the throws for distance, men and women placed in separate brackets. DPhiE and DTD placed first in the football throw, DPhiE and TKE placed first in the baseball throw, Phisig and SigPi placed first in the football punt, and MPGC (Multicultural and Professional Greek Council) and DTD placed first in the Frisbee throw and bag toss.
Next, organizations participated in penny wars, as well as the Minute to Win It competitions on Monday. For penny wars, each organization was required to have a member of their chapter by their jug for the entire duration of the event, from 11 am to 4 pm. The organizations sat outside of the Rebecca Stafford Student Center, attempting to receive as much change as possible dropped into their jugs.
Monday night, organizations gathered in Pollak Theatre to watch the Greeks participate in Minute to Win It. Each team had four members participating in the event. Participants attempted a variety of the games from the popular game show such as the dizzy mummy, magic carpet, cup stack, and office tennis. Taking first place in Minute to Win it was AOPi and Theta Xi.
On Tuesday night, organizations will be participating in a dodgeball tournament. The tournament is located in Boylan Gym at 10 pm. Following the dodgeball tournament is the talent show on Wednesday at 10 pm in Pollak Theatre.. The organizations will be performing their own renditions of their Disney favorites. On Thursday, a pudding eating contest will occur, along with track races, wheelbarrow races, three legged races, and a KanJam tournament. Lastly, LTA has the opportunity to perform its annual yard show at 7:30 pm on Thursday in Anacon.
“It’s actually by chance our yard show falls on Greek Week. However, our strength, dedication, and hard work are put to the test when working to execute a week full of our own events, along with Greek Week events,” said Bri Perea, a junior communication major and sister of LTA. “After a super hectic week it’s awesome to see all support from other Greeks on campus at our yard show.”
On Friday, the top four teams from the dodgeball tournament will be competing in the finals. Following the dodgeball tournament are the three-point basketball shootout, horse, and a threeton-three tournament. At the end of the night, the Pop Culture Trivia Show will be hosted in Anacon.
Concluding Greek Week on Saturday morning is the volleyball competition, as well as the notorious tug-of-war games.
After all the games and events are completed, points will be tallied up and winners announced. Over the course of the next few days, Greek organizations will be battling to beat the reigning champions, TKE. Last year, Tau Kappa Epsilon was paired up with AST who placed second.
Aaron Montanez, a sophomore business administration major and brother of TKE, said, “We took care of business at last year’s Greek Week events and went home with the gold. We are going to come out and compete with the same heart and motivation we had last year and keep TKE on top.”
As of Tuesday, not including the results of penny wars,the Greek Week standings are as follows: AXiD and SigPi in first place with 161 points, PhiSig and DTD in second place with 157 points, AOPi and Theta Xi in third place with 114 points, AST, ZTA, and TDPhi in fourth place with 77 points, DPhiE and TKE in fifth place with 65 points, and MPGC in sixth place with 47 points.
Information about Greek Week is being posted on the Greek Senate Twitter account @GreekSenate_MU.
PHOTOS COURTESY of Alpha Xi Delta
