After a one-year hiatus, Greek Week has returned to Emory's campus.
This week, six teams consisting of one Intersorority Council (ISC) chapter, two Interfraternity Council (IFC) chapters and at least one Multicultural Greek Council (MCG) or National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) chapter will compete for the title of Greek Week Champion in this year's "Survivor"-themed competitions.
Scheduling conflicts and divisions among the four Greek Life councils prevented Greek Week last year, but event planners hope to make the friendly competition an annual tradition from now on.
"It's a great way to make friends and make Greek Life visible on campus," Gamma Phi Beta sister and College sophomore Ashley Stumvoll said. She added that allowing non-Greeks to come to the events is "a great way to bring the campus together," as "a lot of people feel isolated from the Greek community."
Following Monday's banner contest, in which administrators judge contestants on their artistic renditions of the "Survivor" theme and their creativity in choosing a clever hanging location, each team will send 20 members to a Trivia Quizbowl at BurgerFi Tuesday night.
Greeks will dominate Asbury circle on Wonderful Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Each chapter will set up its own table, welcoming anyone with questions or interest. Along with the King of Pops, carnival-style food, a fire blower, a tattoo artist and a bounce house, signups for a Sept. 25 Red Cross Blood Drive will be available.
The women of each team will go head to head at a Powder Puff football tournament Thursday night on McDonough Field. The male team members, after coaching and cheering for the girls on Thursday evening, will compete for the title of "Greek God" at a Strongman contest on sorority lawn Friday at 4 p.m.
The fun and games comes to an end on Saturday, Sept. 21 at an Eagle Row Block Party complete with a DJ, games, rides and free food from 2 to 5 p.m. At 3:30 p.m., the Greek Week Champions will be awarded "a huge trophy and bragging rights," according to ISC president and Goizueta Business School senior Lauren Browning.
Last year, however, Browning and IFC president and College senior Jason Stern planned to hold the week long event during the spring to coincide with underclassmen rush.
"Between recruitment, Spring Break and Dooley's Ball, we couldn't find a good time to do it," Stern said. He added that, though the event wasn't held during the 2010-11 academic year either, "Greek Week used to be a fun tradition that all the Greek organizations would get excited about. We're hoping to bring back that same energy this year."
According to Browning, the 2012-13 academic year posed a challenge for Greek Life when the department split into four "very independent" councils.
"This year all four councils are determined to strengthen our community," she said.
Brown helped assemble a 10-member Greek Week planning board last year to better unify the four councils.
"We all learned so much about each others' purposes on campus and goals and realized that a lot of them align," she said. "We hope to set a precedent that all four councils continue to work together, learn more about each other and treat each other as resources and allies."
Browning plans to "bring the long-held Emory tradition back in full force" and make Greek Week an annual event.
On top of permanently bringing Greek Week back to Emory, Stern said he hopes the week's events, all of which except Trivia Night are open to non-Greeks, will foster freshman interest.
Though the "freshman social freeze," in which freshmen students were banned from parties on Eagle Row, officially ended on Sept. 11, one of Greek Week's purposes is to attract a large recruitment crowd as Novemberfest and spring rush approach, he said.
Stumvoll said she thinks Greek Week will invite a large group for underclassmen rush this spring.
"We're hoping to have about as big a group as last year," she said.
– By Lydia O'Neal
Photo by Elsayed Hagar
