Getting Ready for Greek Week 2018!

By CASSANDRA SWIHART TOWER staff writer

Spring semester is a very busy time here at Bethany. Between completing final projects, getting involved in campus events, and doing various other activities, many students find themselves constantly doing something this time of year. As the week of April 16^th approaches, students on campus who are involved in Greek Life are eagerly awaiting the long-anticipated return of Greek Week. The 2018 Greek Week will mark the first one since the week was cancelled following the 2015 competition. Through the Greek Sing competition has continued each year since, many students from the various houses are excited to bring back a full week of events that really get each house involved.

In this year’s return of the competition, each day has a set list of activities. Monday, April 16^th is the first day, and there are various events to get the week started. The first is a sumo suit race, in which one participant from each house will run in an inflated suit to see who can cross the finish line the fastest. The second is trash can pong, where two members of each house will throw balls into a group of trash cans set up in a triangle, seeing who can get the ball into every can first. The third is a traditional tug of war contest with teams of six from the various houses. The final event for Monday, modeled after the ancient Greeks, will be a chariot race where each house will find a way to make a chariot with two wheels that can hold a house member, and race it against the other houses to see whose is the fastest.

The second night of competition, switching to a more knowledge-based event, will be a trivia competition. Created in the style of Family Feud, teams will consist of 5 members from each house competing against one another to see who can score the most throughout the various rounds. The third night will be somewhat of a break from activities that denote a winner. Houses will have three members model outfits of old clothing in a Goodwill fashion show, and the clothes worn will then be donated to a local Goodwill. There will also be a “PIC closet” fashion show, wherein houses will have three members model outfits from the Kalon closet of professional clothing and the models will get to keep their outfits. This day awards points strictly for participation and allows for those in Greek life to have a break halfway through the week.

Thursday transitions into more athletic events, with opportunities for houses to continue competition against each other. The first event is the dizzy bat homerun derby, where a member of each house is spun around and then attempts to hit a ball as far as they can. Next is cornhole, with a competition between two members of each house to determine a winner. The third activity for this day is a basketball 3-point shootout, with one person from each house competing to see who can score the most within a given time. The final activity for Thursday is a human pyramid, which consists of 10 Greeks from each house competing to see who can build the best pyramid and do it in the shortest amount of time.

Friday marks the last day of competition with the Greek sing contest. This is the event that takes the most practice for each organization and has proved to be competitive even during the years that Greek Week was not present. Though some houses have chosen to not participate in the years of Greek Week’s absence, there will likely be participation by all houses this year since the points from the competition go towards an overall Greek Week score.

Saturday, after competition has come to an end, the Froscars officially wrap up Greek Week. This is an event where organization members dress up and attend the Bethany College Greek Life version of the Oscars. Awards are given out, including the Greek Sing and overall Greek Week champion awards as well as other individual and house awards that the Greek community votes on beforehand. Dinner is served, and afterwards houses usually head back up to the hill and/or their respective houses to celebrate their accomplishments. The return of Greek Week is something that many students have been hoping for, and there is hope that it will go well and be here to stay permanently.