Hopkins's first annual Greek Weekend was marked by participation from Greeks and non-Greeks alike at events such as Casino Night, an inter-sorority Powderpuff football game and the annual Kite and Key Cook-Off, despite dreary weather conditions.
Though Greek Weekend had the potential to be exclusive to the 24 percent of students involved in Greek life, several social and philanthropic functions were active in getting both non-Greek students and the surrounding community involved. With the exception of the Greek Formal on Saturday night, every activity last weekend was open to the entire student body.
According to Robert Turning, Hopkins's Greek Life Coordinator, past attempts at emulating Greek Weeks of larger universities failed to draw much participation. The idea to attempt a Greek-oriented weekend was spawned at the Hopkins 100 Leadership Retreat in August.
Kate Melia, Greek Weekend Event co-coordinator, said that the goal of the weekend was to demonstrate the positive influence of Greek life on campus.
"We wanted to create a unified front. Our main goal was to bond and to show people that Greek organizations do more than just throw parties," Melia said.
Turning said he hoped that the weekend would "give people a taste of what goes on in the Greek community and help Greeks and non-Greeks interact and get to know each other."
Delta Xi Phi President and Greek Weekend Event Co-Coordinator Ewa Krason mentioned community service and freshman recruitment as other key objectives to the weekend.
One event that successfully integrated Greeks with non-Greeks was sorority Alpha Phi and the Resident Advisory Board's (RAB) Casino Night on Friday in the Glass Pavilion.
Students were encouraged to dress to impress, consume complimentary "mocktails" and were free to use their $25,000 in "Funny Money" to play blackjack, poker, craps and roulette at tables with professional dealers.
Players could cash in their wins through raffle tickets, which were drawn at the end of the night to determine winners of prizes such as gift certificates to local restaurants, museum passes and a 12-pack of canolis.
All proceeds from ticket sales, totaling more than $1,000, went to Alpha Phi's charity of choice, Cardiac Care. Though this was Alpha Phi's second annual Casino Night, it was the first time that they teamed up with RAB. The two organizations had separately planned Casino Nights for the same date and decided to turn the scheduling conflict into a mutual event.
The turnout for Casino Night met the expectations of the event coordinators, and Alpha Phi's senior vice president of Marketing, Jess Brown, partly attributes the high attendance rates to merging with RAB.
"They helped bring in a different demographic, and I think this is definitely a good start to having a more integrated student body. Honestly, I don't think the event could have been any better," Brown said.
Jennifer Yi, a community advisor responsible for the RAB portion of the event, said, "I am really happy that we cosponsored [with Alpha Phi]. It boosted attendance much more and cut the stress level in half."
Freshman John Joyce said he found Casino Night to be "a good way to meet people in Greek Life if you're not in a fraternity or sorority."
One complaint was the ticket cost: $7 prepaid, $9 at the door. Freshman Jonathan Sevilla said he thought the prices probably discouraged many students.
"Maybe more people would have been willing to pay if they advertised more that [proceeds went to] charity," Sevilla said.
Not everything was as successful as Casino Night, though. One fault of Greek Weekend, according to Turning, was that some events were less advertised than others.
Meet the Greeks, held in the Charles Commons Ballroom, was designed to introduce freshmen to Greek life, with each organization representative wearing black to provide an unbiased view. Turning said he had anticipated a strong turnout, especially with the incentive of free pizza. There turned out to be more Greek representatives than freshmen in attendance, possibly due to the fact that event invitations were sent out only the night before.
Like every year, sororities and fraternities actively participated in friendly competition inspired by Greek Week points, which were awarded at various events based on attendance or success in a particular race or game. The group with the most points was named the victor of Greek Week.
On Saturday, sororities Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Alpha Theta joined forces for their second annual Kite & Key Cook-Off on the Beach, featuring burgers, music and philanthropy. The entry fee was $3 or three cans to be donated to the Maryland Food Bank. All four Panhellenic sororities and seven fraternities participated in the Cook-Off, with Sigma Alpha Epsilon emerging as the victor with a spicy Moroccan-style burger. SAE won points for their fraternity and had the privilege of donating the $135 and 300 to 350 cans raised to the Maryland Food Bank in their name. Theta won points by having the best side dish, while Phi Mu took home points for the most delectable dessert.
Despite the unfortunate weather conditions, Theta's president, Liz Meinert, credited part of the event's success to relocating to the lower, more accessible part of the Beach.
Following the Cook-Off was the Powderpuff Football Game between sororities. Alpha Phi eventually beat out Phi Mu in a long final match. Despite chilly weather and pouring rain, the game had a surprising amount of spectators.
The fraternities had their own equivalent competition for Greek Weekend points in the form of a Soapbox Derby. There were only four participating teams, and Beta Theta Pi proved the winner after three heats with their tricycle, though as Melia commented, "AEPi definitely won for creativity" with their Trojan horse vehicle.
One of the premier Greek Week point events was the Penny Race on Friday afternoon. Each of the 20 participating fraternities and sororities had their own jars out at Levering Plaza. People could donate pennies to the Greek organizations of their choice, which would add points to their score; or they could add larger coins and bills to a fraternity or sorority to count as negative points. Fraternity Beta Theta Pi ended up with the most points, 3505, winning the sum of all the coins in every jar, $251.31, to be donated to their philanthropy of choice.
Other Greek events throughout the week included Thursday's Inter-Fraternity Council's flag football championship game, where Sigma Phi Epsilon defeated Alpha Delta Phi (more popularly known as WaWa), a Greek Career Night, a community service project with the Friends of Wyman Park Dell and the only inclusive Greek event, the Fraternity and Sorority Formal, which was held at Nolan's Café in Charles Commons.
Turning noted that the Formal had a full turnout and that the Greeks-only label was due to space restraints in Nolan's.
Krason said that the Formal wasn't as cohesive as some had hoped.
"It could have been more successful had there been more interaction amongst the different Greek organizations present," Krason said.
Turning said that this year's Greek Weekend proved to be a "successful experiment," and he hopes to improve next year's events by advertising in advance and sending direct invitations to more unaffiliated students.
