After nearly a decade, Fraternity and Sorority life at the University of Iowa brought back Greek Week.
This year from April 7-11, Fraternity and Sorority Life hosted four days of collaborative events to celebrate the pillars of Greek life at the UI, the Interfraternity Council, or IFC, Instagram page wrote.
Grace Kohlhof, chair of Fraternity and Sorority Life Programming, said each event hosted had a different meaning.
On Monday, chapters were allowed to perform anything they’d like, including lip syncing and door stacks, a sorority tradition in which members form a pyramid in Greek solidarity in the doorway of the house and sing welcoming songs.
“It was a really cool moment that we all got to share as a community,” Kohlhof said.
Tuesday focused on service and consisted of two different opportunities. Students could make tie blankets with the UI Iowa City Housing Project, and those blankets were donated to the homeless population of Iowa City. Secondly, a trash crawl was offered in which members were provided with gloves and trash bags and encouraged to go out into the community and around chapter structures collecting trash.
Career development happened on Wednesday, which consisted of taking professional headshots, conversations with staff from the Pomerantz Center, resume building and interview preparation, and members receiving free professional clothing from the Professional Clothing Closet.
The final day was concentrated on fun and teamwork. Chapters got to do team challenges and root for one another, ride a mechanical bull, and participate in an obstacle course.
The last event took place on Friday, the Greek Week Gala, a small event focusing on recapping and celebrating the week.
Kohlhof has been thinking about bringing Greek Week back for two years, hoping she could make it happen as she grew higher in leadership.
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“This felt like something that needed to happen. I see my community growing, getting better and holding each other accountable, and I wanted an event that showcased that, and something where we could do good for ourselves and do good for others,” Kohlhof said.
Addison Eckard, former Undergraduate Student Government president and member of the Panhellenic Council, said she thinks all the events hosted were able to transcend and apply to all four councils.
“I hope that [Greek Week] brings chapter pride and brings FSL pride and gives people an opportunity to make friends and interact within other councils,” Eckard said.
Beta Theta Pi President Jackson Skahill agreed the events built a stronger connection between councils.
“There’s been a disconnect present in the past couple years, and we’re just trying to build a stronger community,” Skahill said.
Isaac Johnson, vice president of philanthropy and service for Fraternity and Sorority Life, hopes for the Greek Life community to be viewed as a positive one and one that students want to be a part of.