Editor’s note: The following story contains an error. Kappa Alpha Order won the overall Greek Week for the fraternity division.
Greeks on campus proudly represented their sororities and fraternities last week for Greek Week with a theme of community service.
For one week, USI’s 10 chapters participated in some sort of service activity earlier in the day followed by a friendly competition in evening.
“Greek Week is an opportunity for the fraternities and sororities to work together towards their causes, as well as participating in a healthy competition to celebrate being part of a fraternal organization,” said David Stetter, program advisor for Greek life and leadership.
Unlike most colleges, Greek Week at USI focuses on volunteerism and service events, Stetter said.
On Monday evening, fraternity and sorority members bowled the night away at Franklin Lanes to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. While waiting to bowl, each chapter could write letters to friends, family and alumni which asked for donations to St. Jude. $300 were raised through the sale of Strike Out Cancer shirts that night as well.
Outside the library, the Greek community chalked up the sidewalks on Tuesday morning.
“It was a good way to show (Greek) unity, visibility and allows members to show their creative side,” Stetter said. That evening, ten members from each chapter played kickball at Broadway Fields.
Philanthropalooza lasted from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The new event divided the fraternities and sororities into three groups to come up with ideas to help raise funds for the children’s research. Gamma Phi Beta, Kappa Alpha Order and Lambda Chi Alpha won the event with the idea of a carnival theme with a popcorn and cotton candy machine for sale and a seesaw to ride.
Overall $2,200 was raised for St. Jude.
At least one brother or sister represented his or her chapter for the 10 rounds at the Minute to Win It competition in Carter Hall on Wednesday with sophomore Caylin Blockley, political science major, and sophomore Vanessa David, radio and television major, as the hosts. There were no eliminations, because it was a friendly competition, Stetter said.
The first challenge, Hanky Panky, had one participant from each chapter come on stage and pull all the Kleenexes out of the box in 60 seconds or less.
The room went silent in anticipation, but as soon as participants received the signal to go, the crowd jumped to its feet and cheered for chapter teams.
All night teammates gave each other advice on the best way to complete the challenges.
The challenge, Defying Gravity, defeated everyone that night.
The goal was to keep three balloons per person afloat for 60 seconds, but the average time keeping the balloons off the ground was around 20 seconds.
The night ended with the presidents of each fraternity and sorority doing the “Junk in the Trunk” challenge. Each president had a Kleenex box strapped above their waistline with eight ping-pong balls inside that had to be shaken out.
The sorority girls from Alpha Sigma Alpha won overall in the Minute to Win It games.
Forty-one pints of blood were collected on Thursday morning from the Greek community. That afternoon sand volleyball made several hot and sweaty while others watched and ate hot dogs. Gamma Phi Beta won the sorority division, and Kappa Alpha Order won the fraternity division.
Saturday was when the games began. All day, one group of sorority girls had signs supporting all the fraternities racing. Freshman Gamma Phi Beta Mary Tyler, pre-dental hygiene major, said the girls wanted to show their support in the unity of the Greeks. It also gave them a chance to meet new people.
After racing the four-by-four, chariot race and stacking a human pyramid, the tug of war competition began. It was a round-robin tournament, allowing every chapter to compete against every other chapter.
After being in the sun for 2 1/2 hours, many were tired out but continued to fight for their brotherhood and sisterhood.
Alpha Sigma Alpha won the tug of war for the sororities with a three-way tie between Phi Delta Theta, Lambda Chi Alpha and Tau Kappa Epsilon.
Waking up early for the weekend, the chapters helped with Keep Evansville Beautiful by cleaning up parts of the city. Afterwards, everyone had a small break to get ready for the most anticipated event of the week: Dance Comp 2011.
About 550 people attended to watch the 90s themed dance competition at the Performing Arts Center. Each chapter had a group of five to 12 dancers perform for the other chapters and guests. Admission was $1, and all proceeds went toward the Jamel Lewis Educational fund. The Greek Community showed unity throughout the night by having a standing ovation every time a group finished their dance.
While the judges finished calculating the scores, Gamma Phi Beta invited everyone to join on the gym floor in memory of Amber Gosch, a Gamma Phi Beta who passed away earlier this year.
After the song finished, Greeks were presented awards for their hard work. Gamma Phi Beta won Overall throughout the week with yet again another tie for the fraternities between Lambda Chi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Order.