For some Saint Louis University students, this week is just the last week of March. For others this week is an opportunity to show their pride and their enthusiasm. For those students, this week is Greek Week.
“One of my favorite parts of being Greek is Greek Week,” Bridget Toomey, a senior in the School of Nursing said. “It is an awesome way to really feel like part of the Greek community at SLU. Even though there is a competition aspect to it, everyone can get together and celebrate their respective organizations, as well as just being Greek at SLU in general.”
Greek Week is a weeklong event that revolves around the idea of bringing students involved in Greek life together, said Kirstin Leih, Coordinator for the Student Involvement Center and specializing in Fraternity and Sorority life.
“It can be difficult to bring everyone together at one time to celebrate being Greek,” Leih said.
The shared history, shared values and a little healthy competition is what makes Greek Week, said Leih.
Intrafraternity Council president Mike Zitzer said Greek Week is also about breaking down the “barriers” that can often be found within Greek life.
He said these barriers can include the various relationships between specific fraternities and also between sororities. Greek Week aims to remove those barriers, at least for the week.
While Greek Week is mainly focused on those students involved in Greek life, both Zitzer and Leih agree it is important for non-Greek students to have an investment in the event as well as Greek life in general.
“We try to get everyone involved,” Zitzer said. “We realize that for philanthropy efforts, it’s mostly Greeks giving to Greeks, but we want to get everyone involved.”
This year for Greek Week, proceeds from the various philanthropic events will be donated to the organization Give Kids A Smile, a charity associated with the SLU School of Medicine.
Zitzer also said it is important for non-Greek students to be aware of Greek life goings-on because Greeks are “not just Greek.”
“They’re in [the Student Government Association], they’re [Martin Luther King, Jr.] scholars and they’re [Presidential Scholars],” Zitzer said. “Greek life is so far reaching, and we’re kind of involved with everything, so it’s important to know who we are so we can work together in our organizations.”
Leih had similar statements and said that most other schools have noticeable divides between Greek students and non-Greeks; she does not see such a divide here.
“Many of our Greeks are friends with non-Greek students, and there is a fairly healthy relationship between the two,” Leih said.
Through philanthropy and through active communication, Leih hopes the relationship with non-Greek students and their involvement in Greek life will grow stronger and more in-depth.
“My goal, as a student involvement coordinator, is for each student to find their home and their niche, whether that be through Greek life or another organization,” Leih said. “I think it’s great to see student organizations supporting each other, and I want to see the same support between Greeks and non-Greeks.”
Leih said the relationship between Greek and non-Greek students is not about tolerating each other and noticing the existence of one another, but about “caring for each other’s well-being” and working together.
“We have much greater power collectively to create change,” Leih said. “I hope having letters or not having letters will not prevent students from reaching out to each other to start that change.”
As one of the concluding events to Greek Week, non-Greek students are encouraged by the Greek community to attend Greekapalooza at 5 p.m. in Bauman-Eberhardt gym on Friday, April 1.
