This week is Greek Week at Lawrence, and the fraternities and sororities have been celebrating with a series of fun and creative events for the community’s enjoyment. In addition to helping the Greek system maintain a campus profile and providing a good time for anyone choosing to attend, the events serve as fundraisers for the respective charities the fraternities and sororities support.
The sisters of Kappa Kappa Gamma kicked off the festivities on Monday evening with their second annual Kappa Karnival in Riverview Lounge. The Karnival featured various games, prizes and entertainment. The money that the Kappas raised will be donated to Harbor House, an Appleton organization dedicated to the awareness and prevention of domestic violence and abuse.
“We love putting on the Karnival,” said Kappa president Claire Rockett, “because it allows us to help a cause we love to support and have fun at the same time.”
The fun continued Tuesday night with a Lip Sync event in the coffeehouse. Participants from several of the sororities and fraternities rocked out to their favorite tunes, competing for 50 dollars worth of Baskin Robbins ice cream. Phi Delta Theta proudly took first place with their performance to Natalie Imbruglia’s “Torn.”
Delta Gamma’s highly popular Anchor Splash competition took place on Wednesday in the Buchanan-Kiewit Recreation Center pool. Anchor Splash is a remarkable tradition for Delta Gamma, with every chapter that has a pool hosting a competition since 1966.
Teams from the Greek organizations and other campus groups took to the pool to test themselves at synchronized swimming, balloon tossing and creative diving among other events. As part of the event, raffle tickets were also sold for a set of covetable prizes including a 100-dollar gift certificate for Avenue Jewelers and free food from Buffalo Wild Wings.
Besides Anchor Splash, the DGs are also sponsoring a week-long “Most Beautiful Eyes” competition among the presidents of all the fraternities and sororities. Photos of each Greek president’s eyes are on display in Downer, and students, faculty and staff are invited to vote by means of monetary donation for whose are most beautiful. All the money raised will go to Service for Sight, Delta Gamma’s national charity, which aids the visually impaired.
On Thursday, the action moved to the Quad where Kappa Alpha Theta hosted its annual Kicks For CASA kickball tournament in conjunction with a cookout sponsored by Beta Theta Pi. Entry fees from the kickball tournament will go to Court Appointed Special Advocates, CASA, a group that serves abused and neglected children.
The Betas will fire up their grills Friday afternoon to serve brats and burgers while hosting a series of “Beta Theta Pie” pie-eating contests including relay races and finding objects hidden in pies.
Saturday brings several events. Phi Kappa Tau’s car smash will be taking place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Main Hall Green. Participants can buy sledgehammer swings at a blue 1985 Volkswagen van, with money from the event going to Hole in the Wall Gang Camps, an organization for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. Also taking place Saturday on the Green are the Ormsby Zoo Days and Shack-A-Thon.
Greek Week concludes on Sunday night with the Phi Delta Theta rock concert. It is set to take place from 7-10 p.m. in Riverview. Tickets to the multi-band show will be sold throughout the week and at the door, with proceeds going to help patients suffering from ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Greeks give back during Greek Week
