It’s March. Enter spring weather, midterms and cravings for summer. Oh, and we can’t forget about Greek Week: the one week each year dedicated to the Greek organizations at Mason. Seeing as how there’s no Greek row (in fact, no Greek housing at all) and practically no acknowledgement whatsoever that Greek life exists here, it’s the least this school can do for the Greek system. Don’t know what Greek Week entails? Don’t worry. Simply read on for a very opinionated and biased overview.
Basically, Greek Week is a giant competition between all the Greek organizations. Six Pan-Hellenic sororities and 16 Interfraternal Council fraternities, along with those Greek organizations in the Multicultural Greek Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council, participate in Greek Week. Every Greek group has the option of taking part in Greek Week, but not all choose to. Those that do, however, must partake in all sorts of shenanigans before and during Greek Week. Said shenanigans are quite noticeable to the rest of the student body and are generally a source of irritation to those who are not affiliated with Greek organizations. As someone who belongs to a Greek organization and contributes to these shenanigans, I would like to apologize. Sorry, everyone else, Greek Week sucks for you.
The first thing you will notice is the banners in the Johnson Center. Almost every Greek organization participating in Greek Week submits a banner to be hung in the JC. They are designed to match the overarching theme of Greek Week, which is usually generic and stupid. This year the theme is “All About the Nineties.” Therefore, you can expect banners depicting Power Rangers, Furbies, Backstreet Boys and other bad ‘90s paraphernalia.
The construction of shacks outside the JC will definitely be another source of irritation for you. The shacks are just what they sound like: small buildings erected shoddily and rapidly. These shacks will be decorated with ‘90s motifs, in keeping with the Greek Week theme. Members of the Greek organizations will be at these shacks at all times, usually pestering you to donate to Habitat for Humanity. Arm yourself with pockets full of pennies and other small change so you don’t have to reject everyone who asks for a contribution. To be fair, this is a very worthy cause and you should have no qualms about donating to it.
The banners and shacks aside, the main thing you will notice during Greek Week is large groups of girls migrating about campus late at night. These ladies will be clad in yoga pants, carrying cups of Starbucks and acting shady. What are they doing, you ask? Why, they are practicing for Greek Sing. For those of you who are not aware, Greek Sing is a production during which Greek organizations put on a small skit related to the Greek Week theme. For the fraternities that are involved, Greek Sing is a bit of an ordeal but nothing to really sweat over. However, for the sororities, Greek Sing is the biggest deal in the universe. It is the culmination of weeks of hard work, sweat, tears and exhaustion. Nothing else during Greek Week compares to the ordeal that is known as Greek Sing. If you belittle it or make fun of it in any way, be prepared to feel the wrath of any hyped-up sorority girls who hear you.
So there you have the main points of Greek Week. If you are irritated and inconvenienced, please accept my humblest apologies and my request that you cut us some slack. Honestly, Greek life at Mason is virtually hidden from view for the rest of the year, and Greek Week is the one time when we get to go all out. Just let us have our fun and you can grumble under your breath about us as much as you want!
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