Sunday, Sept. 12 marked the beginning of the third annual “Greek Week” which included six days of festivities and events promoting Greek life at Cornell. The events were organized and co-sponsored by the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the Panhellenic Association Council (PA) and the Multicultural Greek Letter Council (MGLC) chapters.
The purpose of Greek Week was to provide Cornell’s Greek community with fun and challenging events.
Greek Week began on Ho Plaza where members of fraternities and sororities attended a roll call ceremony. Members of various Greek chapters enjoyed a free barbeque and music, while roll call was taken.
All fraternities and sororities registered with the IFC, PA, or MGLC were permitted to participate in Greek Week events. Other students from the University were also invited to join.
Rebecca Macey ’06, one of the three co-heads of Greek Week and vice president of programming for the PA said, “Hopefully Greek Week united Cornell’s Greek communities through our challenging events.”
“We wanted to get everyone involved to show what the Greek system is all about,” Macey added.
“This week provided a forum in which the ideals and goals of the Greek system were witnessed,” Macey said. “We challenged ourselves, and had a ton of fun while doing it.”
Each chapter earned points through participation, attendance, winning an event, recycling, providing or bidding on a service for the auction, buying t-shirts and volunteering to help throughout the week.
Events included Greek Olympics, a service auction, Scholastic Bowl and a 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
“The kick-off ceremony, basketball tournament and service auctions were expected to have the largest attendance,” Macey said. “But some of our other events are usually the favorites.” The Scholastic Bowl featured questions ranging from Greek life to popular culture. A recycling drive was held on the Arts Quad last Thursday, with proceeds benefiting a local Ithaca charity.
“The winners of Greek Week received a trophy and cash prize to give to the chapter’s philanthropy. All three councils had a first, second and third place winner,” Macey explained.
James Thomson ’05, VP-programming for the IFC, and Lynn Chao ’06, VP-community and University relations for the MGLC assisted Macey with organizing the Greek Week festivities. “The long hours of work and many efforts of the co-heads and the committee are what made this week possible,” Thomson said.
The biggest event was the Service Auction on Friday night in Kennedy Auditorium. Members of fraternities and sororities bid on services that would benefit their house.
“It’s kind of like a date auction, but instead of bidding on dates, the audience will bid on cleaning their room, sober driver to the bars, etc.,” Thomson said. The event was open to the general public.
“The Greek Olympics were a huge success too. We had an amazing turnout on the Arts Quad for the Kool-Aid chugging, pie-eating, and obstacle course competitions,” Thomson said. “The crowd was really fired up. All the chapters were supporting their members, and everyone was having a great time.”
Thomson added that, “There was a lot of enthusiasm going around in the Greek System during Greek Week, and chapters came out in full force, had a great time, hung out with other members of the Greek System, and cheered on their members … I had a blast at all the events.”
Jenna Odett ’07 competed in the scooter race during the Greek Olympics and played in the 3-on-3 basketball tournament on Wednesday. “I was surprised at how competitive some of the girls were. It was all in good fun.” she said.
“We all played really hard, which shows how dedicated and passionate we are about our chapters,” Odett added. “Everyone who was out there participating in events, showing support, and cheering on their team really showed the true spirit of the Greek system at Cornell.”
The winners of Greek Week were Alpha Phi, Chi Phi and Alpha Kappa Delta Phi.
Archived article by Allison Markowitz
Sun Staff Writer