Poetry on the Porch to feature Washburn poet

An open microphone reading by Emporia State students, faculty and the Emporia community will take place at 2 p.m. this Sunday at the William Allen White House, 927 Exhange St.

Eric MeHenry, a professor at Washburn, will read some of his work at the event. His first book of poems, “Potscrubber Lullabies,” won the Kate Tufts Discovery Award.

Blood drive to start next week

Beginning today, students can sign up to donate blood on the Memorial Union Main Street.

The Xi Phi blood drive will begin next Wednesday. Tables will be set up from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Thursday in Webb Lecture Hall in the Memorial Union.

According to the American Red Cross, only three out of every 100 Americans donate blood. To find out if you are eligible, go to Redcrossblood.org.

ASA’s annual chili feed will feature new to-go line

Alpha Sigma Alpha will host their annual Chili Feed from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the sorority house, 226 West 12th Ave.

Tickets are $5 for all you can eat chili, drinks and desert. Kids 12 and under eat for $3. Contact any ASA member to reserve a spot, or stop by ASA’s booth in the Memorial Union.

Starting this year, ASA will have a to-go line. They will also have Scentsy, Avon, At Home America and Thirty One Bags products available.

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Fraternities and sororities took part in several activities across campus this week for the annual Greek Week including several sporting events and award presentations.

“Greek Week is like the sacred week when everyone who can call themselves Greek can get together,” said Jake Tannehill, junior English major and member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity. “We wear our letters proudly, but we also put them aside and embrace the entire Greek community.”

This was Tannehill’s third Greek Week. He participated in the tug-of-war as well as the Greek Talent Show.

The Greek games took place at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. The games kicked off with a canoe race on Wooster Lake. Contestants were to row their boats out onto the lake, around the fountain and back to the starting point. The Sigma Pi fraternity and Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority team won first place. During one of the races, a boat flipped, but the occupants were unhurt and the boat was recovered without incident.

Following the canoe races, participants moved to Welch Stadium for the remainder of the Greek games which included a tug-of-war, a three legged race, a “Skittle Run” and a “Snake Slither.”

The Greek Talent Show was also held on Tuesday after the games. Various fraternities and sororities performed acts in the gymnasium of the Student Recreation Center. The Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority won first place overall for their dance routine.

“Showing off – showing off what you got,” said George Jeng, junior communications major and member of the Sigma Pi fraternity, when asked what Greek Week meant to him. Jeng performed in the talent show doing a comedy magic trick act. He also judged the tug-of-war contest.

On Wednesday there was the “Dunk-an-R.A.” event in which students could donate one can of food for three balls to try to dunk a resident assistant in a dunk tank. A “Knowledge Bowl” was also held on Wednesday as well as a sand volleyball tournament. The money raised from the volleyball tournament is to be donated to Invisible Children, an organization working to end the war in Uganda and stop the use of child soldiers.

The Greek Banquet is at 6 p.m. tonight in the Webb Lecture Hall. Individual as well as chapter awards will be given out at the banquet.

“It’s a time that all of Greek Life can get together and have a friendly competition,” said Kalyna Nelson, senior sociology major and member of the Sigma Sigma Sigma sorority. “It’s a good time to get all of us together because we have the same values and reasons why we’re in a fraternity or sorority.”

Luke Bohannon

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Greek life is about being involved in the community, according to Ashley McCullough, Alpha Sigma Alpha president and senior communications major. Kappa Sigma President and junior history major Kyle Lococo says it’s about a bond that you form with your brothers in a fraternity.

“It’s more just like a choice that you make when you get here to join something more than just you in college and get away from the normal experience,” Lococo said.

McCullough said Alpha Sigma Alpha’s core values are generosity, growth, responsibility, enjoyment, relationships and learning balance and integrity.

“By keeping those in mind, it just really helps you to be an overall well rounded person and really caring of everybody else,” McCullough said.

There are 59 members in the sorority and McCullough said one of their goals right now is recruiting more girls. She said they are also focusing on encouraging members to get involved in more activities and keeping a strong sisterhood.

The sorority had its district convention in Kansas City this past weekend and some of the girls participated in the Polar Bear Plunge to support Special Olympics on Feb. 20. Alpha Sigma Alpha is also participating in the Lyon County Relay for Life for the American Cancer Society on April 23.

“(Relay for Life) is a fundraiser for the Cancer Society and we have a team called the ‘hard working hippies’ and we just raise money and then we walk from 5 p.m. until 6 in the morning, just to raise awareness and help support the cancer association,” McCullough said.

Freshman English major Katie Galliart said she joined Alpha Sigma Alpha even though she wasn’t sure about being involved in the Greek system. She said the girls were very welcoming and when she walked into the house “it felt like home.”

“I’d seen a lot of TV shows and movies and I was like I don’t know about sororities and stuff but I went over to the house and everybody just seemed really nice,” Galliart said.

Lococo said that Kappa Sigma’s core values center around serving the community. He said it’s important to help out because the fraternity wants to give back to those that help them.

“These are people that we actually spend time with that help us, that help out the community and make sure that this campus continues to run, so we want to give back to them and help them out as best as we can,” Lococo said.

The fraternity gave carnations to the elderly on Valentine’s Day and they are going to Village Elementary School on Monday to play dodge ball and hang out with the kids.

Lococo said the boys are also working to stop the Emporia School Board from making cuts to the music program.

“We’re having a showing at the hearing to try and to show them that even though it’s meant for the elementary schools that the kids of this campus aren’t going to stand for it,” Lococo said. “We feel like those kids need the right education. Even those of us who aren’t specifically in the music program feel that that’s a huge part of their education and they should be allowed to get that the right way.”

Lococo said athletics are important to Kappa Sigma. He said one of the fraternity’s goals is to win a sports championship yearly.

“We’re big into the sports, we compete in (Intrafraternity Council) sports and we usually win that every year,” said Jake Winkler, Kappa Sigma treasurer and sophomore pre-physical therapy major.

Lococo said some other goals they have are to improve their GPA and do more community service than is required.

Lococo said he got involved with Greek life because he came to Emporia not knowing many people. He said when he went to the house for the first time, he connected with everyone.

“Everyone had the same interests I did, did the same kind of stuff I did, and then just getting to know those guys just created a great bond,” Lococo said.

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