Greek Week: Not What it Used to Be

Greek Week was held here at Plymouth State College last week from April 21 to April 25. All recognized Greek organizations were encouraged to get involved with the events planned for them to participate in. Usually T-shirts, are made for everyone to wear throughout the week, along with food provided following many of the activities. This wasn’t the case this year though. National Panhellenic Council and Inter-Fraternity Council budget money in each year for Greek Week so that food can be paid for, supplies provided for games, and money to be given out to the organizations who win the most points throughout the week. The money that was budgeted in this year went to other things, and Greeks were left with nothing to work with.

Last year the budget provided plenty of money to organize the entire week and it was a huge success. Everyone participated, and we were well seen all over campus throughout the entire week. Almost everyone purchased a T-shirt and frisbees were given out as well. This year there were no funds to even order the shirts ahead of time and have Greeks buy them to reimburse the account. Also, no gifts were received. As for the events throughout the week, the usual games were planned, such as the Turtle Tug, which is tug of war over jello. A majority of people showed up to this event on Monday afternoon. The next night softball was planned, and it was cancelled due to rain, along with a barbeque not being funded anyway. Wednesday night was Greek Family Feud, and that didn’t go as planned either, since the questions were not made, no names being mentioned. Finally Thursday brought the Greek God and Goddess competition, and it went pretty well, but more people have participated in past years. This year most people didn’t participate at all, since there were no prizes to win in the end anyway.

Penny Wars is looked forward to every year, and this year the money was donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. Greeks have been working on a fundraising project for the Hospital all semester. At the end of the week there was supposed to be an awards ceremony to honor those who have done a great deal for the Greek community. That never happened either. Packets were never sent out for nominations, and those in charge of making the scholarship awards and holding the ceremony never came through. By reading this, one would think it was the students fault, but it wasn’t. There are advisors for Greek activities and student affairs. This year they are new to the school, just like most of the time, and they did not help the students plan anything. Theses advisors are expected to help with the entire process, and to hold the money aside from the budget which was allotted for Greek Week. The students in charge of planning did all they could to assist the advisors, and they did not complete their part. What upsets Greeks the most is the fact that these advisors are paid to help us will all that we participate in with the school.

It’s sad that this years Greek Week did not go as planned, and one can only hope that next year will be better. Hopefully the advisors from this year will either shape up, or ship out, and things can go back to the way they are supposed to be. Judging from the past, the Student activities and Greek affairs advisors don’t seem to stick around very long anyway, usually not more than one school year. The students who were in charge of planning Greek Week wish things would have gone differently, but it was out of their hands. Hopefully a mini-Greek Week can be held in the Fall to compensate for this years, and everyone is encouraged to get involved and participate with their chapters.