Greek Week will have two themes this year: "Going Back to the Good Ol’ Days" and sexual assault awareness.
The student planning committee chose the second theme to correspond with April being Sexual Assault Awareness month. From April 10-14, there will be a variety of events in which ten teams will participate to raise money for Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence (OEASV) and the Survivor Advocacy Program (SAP).
“We decided, as a committee, that we wanted to start repurposing Greek Week and making it so that Greek members have a cause that we are working for, and we are giving back to the community,” Ashley Walker, Programming Chair for Multicultural Greek Council (MGC), said.
OEASV offers services for survivors and reaches out to help community members prevent sexual violence. SAP is an Ohio University organization that provides confidential support and advocacy programs to survivors of sexual assault. There will also be a tabling event where any student can sign the “It’s on Us” Pledge.
“They are having people take that pledge so that they’ll step in," Kristen Kardas, Assistant Director for Sorority and Fraternity Life, said. "It’s on them to make a change and not be a bystander.”
During the week, fraternities and sororities will be split up into different teams named after old television shows, such as Hannah Montana or Drake and Josh, to fit the "Good Ol’ Days" theme.
Each team will combine members from different Greek governing councils: the Interfraternity Council (IFC), the MGC, the National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) or the Women’s Pan-Hellenic Association (WPA). The teams can build relationships with other organizations with which they don’t typically interact and are intentionally made so the different organizations aren’t paired together within the same two years, Kardas said.
“My favorite part is just getting to know so many more people that you didn’t know before just from different organizations on your team,” Andrew Hucek, Vice President of Programming for IFC, said.
Each event focuses on sexual assault awareness in some way. Here is a list of the events occurring throughout the week:
- Sunday, April 9 — The teams will participate in Athens Beautification Day throughout the day. The Kick-Off event will take place at 5:30 p.m. to officially start Greek Week at the •South Green Amphitheater.
- Monday, April 10 — Fraternity and sorority members will be tabling on the first and fourth floors of Baker Center and the Alumni Gateway from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for anyone to sign the “It’s on Us” pledge. Each team will participate in a banner competition at its chapter house. A food fundraiser will be held at Buffalo Wild Wings from 5-7 p.m. for OEASV.
- Tuesday, April 11 — The teams will participate in Trivia Night at 5:30 p.m. in Baker Ballroom. The emcees for the event will be Mat Hall, Assistant Director of Health Promotion for Sexual Assault/Misconduct Prevention, and Kim Castor, Director of the Survivor Advocacy Program.
- Wednesday, April 12 — Fraternity and sorority members will participate in a food fundraiser at Chipotle from 12-4 p.m. for OEASV. The team will participate in a Recess kickball tournament starting at 5:30 p.m. at Mill Street fields.
- Thursday, April 13 — The teams will participate in a kit drive for the Survivor Advocacy Program at 1 p.m. at the Konneker Alumni Center lawn.
- Friday, April 14 — The teams will compete in an "Air Bands" competition at 7 p.m. in Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium.
There will be an awards ceremony on April 18 to announce individual awards and scholarships, organization award recognition and the Greek Week winners.
