Small chatter is the only sound heard on the volleyball courts outside the Recreation and Fitness center on Sunday. Circled around a rope in the sand Greek Life, members wait for the sound of an air horn to blow. The sound will signal the final competition of Greek Olympics.

The first two teams of six step up to the rope and grab on. The men of Sigma Tau Gamma face off against the men of Tau Kappa Epsilon in a battle of strategy and strength.  The sound of the air horn blows through the air and immediately the rope tightens on both ends, and the crowd begins cheering. 

Greek Week offers up the opportunity for each chapter of Greek Life here at USI to come together to compete for the title of winners and bragging rights. All seven fraternities and three sororities battled it out during seven days of competition.

Gamma Phi Beta walked away victors for the women and Kappa Alpha Order won for the men.

“Each event rewards the top competitors points and we tally the points at the end letting us know the winners of Greek Week,” said David Stetter, greek life and leadership program adviser. “It’s a week full of friendly competition that relieves some stress and allows members to have fun.”

During the week there are two events that generate the most popularity and are the most looked forward to by members: the dance competition and Greek Olympics, both of which require teamwork and dedication, Sigma Tau Gamma member Nick Mathis said.

“(Sigma Tau Gamma) started practicing for dance comp. about two weeks ahead of time,” Mathis said. “Jade Perry did a lot of the choreography, and we just kept repeating them until we felt like we had it done.”

For dance competition, each chapter must put together a mix of songs and choreograph a routine all while sticking to the theme. This year there was no theme, leaving the chapters to do what ever they wanted.

Even though there was no theme many of the fraternities showed up with similar routines having teammates split into two teams and dance battling each other, and ending it with the iconic “We Go Together” from “Grease.” 

Sigma Tau Gamma walked away with the win for the men, and Gamma Phi Beta shimmied away with the win for the women.

“It was a group effort, we all collaborated, but we really owe it to Jade for keeping us on track and taking charge of the practices,” Mathis said. “He was standing up before they even got the full fraternity name out their mouth, it was hilarious.”

Greek Olympics is held every year and puts the chapter’s members athletic ability and endurance to the test. They compete in a chariot race, relay race, pyramid race, swim relay and tug of war.

“It’s very strategic when members are picked to compete, we have girls try out for some events and take volunteers for others,” Gamma Phi Beta President Aurelia Vanderkolk said. “We had a pretty good team, and it played to our favor, our biggest concern was the tug of war because Alpha Sigma Alpha beat us the last two years.” 

Gamma Phi Beta won most of the competitions during Greek Olympics but lost the pyramid race and tug of war to Alpha Sigma Alpha.

“Overall the week was a success for us,” Vanderkolk said. “All the chapters do great jobs throughout the week, and it’s great that we won.”