As the spring semester winds down, Greek members of Emporia State are preparing for a week of competition, recognition and community service.

Greek Week 2009 begins next Monday and for Associate Director for Student Involvement in Greek Life Jason Bosch, “things could not be more exciting.”

“Greek Week is always a blast,” said Bosch, who was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Wichita State. “It’s a good chance to mingle with the various organizations.”

Bosch also emphasized the newly adopted focus on community service among Greeks this year.

“One of the things we are moving toward is putting an emphasis on philanthropic activities, so our street project came about as a result of that,” Bosch said.

The project, which will start at 2:30 p.m. Monday, is a street cleanup that will cover Commercial Street between the 6th-13th Street intersections.

“Our big change is the community service,” said Marisa Bade, senior elementary education major and member of Alpha Sigma Alpha. “We’re going back to what Greek really stands for and trying to show people that we’re not just partiers… and that we’re into scholarship and service and so on, so that’s our big focus for this year.”

As Panhellenic Activities Chairman, Bade also spoke on the differences in this year’s activities with involving the faculty at ESU.

“I would say pretty much we have a lot of sports that we’re playing this year,” Bade said. “We’re also trying to involve the faculty more, so we challenged them to a softball game Monday night at Trusler Fields, winner take all.”

Jeremy Walter, Interfraternity Council (IFC) chairman and junior crime and delinquency studies major, has also been involved with Greek Week’s evolution in the past.

“I actually helped plan Greek Week two years ago, then this year,” said Walter, who is a member of Phi Delta Theta. “The first year we had a campfire theme, but this year we don’t really have a center theme.”

Walter said he thought it was better to not have a theme so that there are more options in terms of events.

“We don’t have to be so rigid and try to create events that tie back to that central theme,” Walter said. “We’re free to experiment and do what we want to do to represent the Greek community.”

One new event that will be included this year is the fraternal “Punt, Pass, and Kick” competition, which will be at 7 p.m. next Wednesday at Welch Stadium.

“The ‘Punt, Pass, and Kick’ event is brand new, because it was hard to get the guys involved in lip-synching with the sororities, which is what they’ve always done,” Walter said. “But the structure of Greek Week is similar enough that, except for the new events, we aren’t doing anything noticeably different, so there aren’t any real surprises for anyone.”

All events of Greek Week are open to the public except the Banquet, which will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in Webb Lecture Hall.

“We really welcome everyone,” Bosch said. “Anyone can come and hang out, see what we’re all about, if you have a friend in a fraternity or sorority or if you’re just wanting to come check it out, we always welcome it.”

Bosch said that his favorite part of Greek Week is the banquet.

“It’s a chance to recognize the various Greeks that have done well, who have stood out and represented our organizations best, and who deserve our thanks,” Bosch said.

Every year, Greeks collect money in the Penny War competition throughout Greek Week. Jars for each organization will be displayed in the Union throughout each day and all money collected goes to a charity selected by the Greek Week Committee.

“This year, that money is going to supporting the Emporia Rotary Club in their efforts to eradicate polio,” Bosch said. “Only four countries left in the world have polio and the Rotary Club is an organization that’s dedicated to ending it everywhere. We really admire their efforts.”

For many involved Greeks, the primary benefit of the experience seems to be unity.

“This week is less about recruiting new members and more about coming together in brother- and sisterhood,” Walter said. “I really think it’s a valuable part of being Greek at Emporia.”

Zachary Hughes/The Bulletin

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