Fraternities and sororities joined this past week for JMU’s annual Greek Week events to “Celebrate Our Past, Cheers to Our Future,” raising close to $8,000 for Mercy House.
The philanthropic event Relay for Life kicked off the week where students of all groups, organizations and Greek chapters participated. The rest of the week comprised a series of events, such as Greek Games including tug of war and three-legged races, and Madison Madness Trivia Night, ending with the much anticipated Greek Sing.
During Greek Sing, organizations put on five-minute performances, consisting of singing, dancing, costumes and props. Each performance was based on a chosen theme, which was submitted to the Greek Sing coordinators ahead of time.
A core committee of 15 student leaders from various chapters planned the week-long events under a theme that tied in to JMU’s Centennial Year. The purpose was to unite the Greek chapters and give back to the Harrisonburg community through a philanthropic cause.
This year proved to be a success with a large charitable outcome and an improvement in student participation. One event, Penny Wars, raised $3,500 alone, and took place Wednesday on the commons. The event involved collecting money on the Commons and the team with the most pennies was the winner.
“This is my first year at JMU and I have been extremely impressed with the student participation and enthusiasm throughout the week,” said Jill Courson, assistant Director of Student Organization Services for Fraternity Sorority Life.
During the week, fraternity and sorority chapters were paired in teams, competing in each event that was judged according to a scoring rubric particular for each event. Participation and spirit are also taken into account.
“I thought this was one of the most organized Greek Week’s we’ve ever had,” said Greek Sing co-chair Fallon Casner. “There was much more healthy competition this year than past years and all the chapters were so much more well informed. I think that definitely added to the increase in participation and enjoyment of the week overall.”
The committee implemented a few changes in this year’s Greek Week, with slight modifications in the Greek Games event on Monday on the Festival Lawn and the newly added Madison Trivia Night. During the Madison Trivia Night, participants answered questions concerning
JMU trivia, pop culture, Virginia history, Greek history, ancient Greek history and science. A barbecue on Friday at Godwin Hall was also added to conclude the week in a celebratory note where the winners of the week were announced.
This year’s Greek Week winners were the fraternity and sorority team of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Alpha Sigma Alpha.
Close to 2,000 students, including the event’s participants attended Greek Sing, to watch sororities and fraternities compete against one another in impressive and entertaining performances. Sigma Phi Epsilon also took first place in Greek Sing for fraternities, while Zeta Tau Alpha placed first for sororities.
