So, what's Greek Week?

If you've been on any campus with a Greek community on it, I am sure you have heard of the holy grail of the Greeks, more commonly referred to as GREEK WEEK.

Now, here's the sad part. You ask any Greek member what Greek Week is and you will get some lame answer like:

"We have an event/competition every day like sports and lip sync and they're worth points. At the end of the week someone wins"

UH, WHAT?! Like really, when you say it like that I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND. But wait, I actually understand nothing, because that is a piss poor answer for what Greek Week is. It makes it seem like Greek Week is just one battle royale between fraternities and sororities, a small Greek Olympics if you may. If that's all you can give people, no one is getting an accurate picture of what Greek Week is.
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Let's break it down here. Greek Week. Seems like it should be a WEEK of being GREEK. Crazy right? But wait, if you're Greek, you should always be Greek right? Right! Greek Week is a week to showcase being Greek and live our values.

Greek Week should be Greek life amplified. To only showcase sports is belittling the Greek Community. Do Greeks only play sports all year? NO. We are students and scholars, we do service projects and community service, we create community in our own organizations and in the greater Greek Community. So isn't that what Greek Week should be about? Shouldn't Greek Week reflect our values and who we ARE.

Greek Week should be a celebration of our accomplishments, showcase of our values, and a chance to get outside of our own organizations and build a stronger community. If Greek Week is only competition based, how can we hope to foster the growth of a community when competition makes us want to annihilate each other in these sporting events.As entertaining as it to watch chapters battle it out, it makes us seem like savages to the outside world. Crazy women who are tackling each other in flag football and men throwing out their arms trying to peg each other with dodgeballs. Savages. Seriously, why do we choose to portray ourselves like that?

We are more than competition, we are more than sports, we are more than dancing, we are more than matching shirts. We are more than what we typically show during this week.

It's time to step up and make Greek Week something that we can all be proud of, something that shows the larger community that we are more than just the stereotypes they see in the media. Get to know other chapters and their members and help build our community up instead of tear it down. Greek Week is more than just sports, so take advantage of every moment to help the community shine.