Broadside News

By Ethan Vaughan, Asst. News Editor

George Mason University boasts students from all 50 states and 130 countries, but, this week at least, the Greeks are taking over.

A cartoon-themed Greek Week, dubbed “Greekelodeon” by event organizers, began on Sunday evening, March 21 with a kick-off rally held on the SUB I quad where participants were treated to a professional DJ and free food.

Greek Week will continue until March 28, with students from the 36 fraternal organizations on campus competing in a series of contests to win the title of Greek Week Champion, a title which confers yearlong bragging rights to the ultimate victor.

Each event carries a number of points for the winning chapter, ranging from a mere 10 awarded at the end of the T-Shirt Competition to a whopping 200 for the fraternity or sorority that comes out on top in Greek Sing, an hours-long skit competition that is the most coveted jewel in the Greek Week crown.
“That’s all very secret,” said senior government major Kellen Rosenfelder, on the routines being practiced for Greek Sing. “Everyone wants to be able to outdo everyone else.”

Rosenfelder, a member of Delta Chi, is one of the four co-chairs of the Greek Week Committee, which has been preparing this week’s festivities for the better part of two semesters.

“We’ve been meeting since the beginning of last semester,” Rosenfelder said. “It’s been almost a year of planning.”

Four Greek councils (the Inter-Fraternal Council, the Multicultural Greek Council, the Pan-Hellenic Greek Council, and the National Pan-Hellenic Greek Council), representing 16 fraternities and 600 individual members, sent one representative each to the Greek Week Committee last fall, and the body has been working toward Greek Week ever since.

The four-person committee presided over a body of nearly 40 representatives from the Greek houses, representatives who came up with ideas for Greek Week events, got approval from their chapter leaders and then voted on the proposals.

“The representatives vote on events and values, ensuring strong communication,” said Rosenfelder. “When you’re [acting for] 600 people, you have to have the right information.”

Colleen Grosch, assistant director for Fraternity and Sorority Life, was proud of the Greek brothers and sisters.

“I’ve been very impressed with the student leaders,” she said. “For trying to create opportunities . . . to be more inclusive of the entire Mason community and for managing their budgets correctly but still managing to get food for 400 people.”

Rosenfelder said that community is a key part of Greek Week.

“We really want to show all the benefits of Greek life and why we joined,” he explained. “I personally regard it as one of the best decisions of my life.”