Greek Week
Greek Week is an annual week-long celebration of Greek Life at Case. Held every spring semester, Greek Week consists of numerous events, both competitive and non-competitive.
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[edit] History
Greek Week has existed for at least three decades. In the beginning, alcohol was a major component of Greek Week and the events. The week was just a long party for Greeks. However, Greek Week is since dry. Although Greeks are still allowed to drink independently during Greek Week, strict punishments will be enforced if any member is caught drunk at an event. As a result, many chapters have enforced rules that members are to be totally dry during the week.
[edit] Events and themes
Currently, Greek Week consists of the following events:
- Greek III
- A motivational speech usually attempting to address an issue of relevance to Greeks or college students. This event is for participation points only.
- Greek Sing
- Chapters sing a song, usually related to the Greek Week theme
- Root Beer Chug
- Groups of 4 compete to chug cups of root beer in the shortest time possible. This event was once Beer Chug, but has been changed because Greek Week is dry.
- Faculty Luncheon
- Chapter members have lunch with various faculty of the university. Counts for participation only.
- Letter Check-in
- Greek members wear letters all day and report in. Chapters with more than 70% participation get full points.
- Banner
- Chapters build banners, or 12x12x12' displays that usually relate to the theme.
Sigma Nu's banner from 2005
- Variety Show
- Chapters perform skits on stage
- Spot Shot
- A basketball shooting competition
- Beech Ball Relay
- A pool relay
- Raft Race
- A race with inflatable rafts in a pool
- Can Castle
- Food cans are collected and made into a display. All cans are donated to a charity.
- Obstacle Course
- Name implies event
- Egg Toss
- Eggs are tossed between team members. The duo that can toss the egg the longest without it breaking wins.
- Unity Events
- Varies from year to year. Usually members from different organizations form larger teams.
- Pyramid
- Chapters crawl under two ropes and create a human pyramid. Fraternities must construct a 5-man base pyramid, while sororities must only do a 4-person. Once the top person is on the pyramid, a cup of root beer is passed up the pyramid and chugged. The chapter with the fastest time wins.
A fraternity builds a pyramid - Rope Pull
- The marquee event. It is like tug of war, but with trenches.
[edit] Old events
Some events have been phased out, either due to poor interest or the inability of the event to exist within the current rule that Greek Week is dry. Some of these events include:
- Pie Snarf
- Eat a pie quickly
- Beer Chug
- Transitioned to Root Beer Chug when Greek Week went dry
- Beer Marathon
- Greeks competed to consume the most beer in a specified amount of time.
- Keg Toss
- Chapters competed to see who could throw a keg the longest
- Five-Legged Race
- Merged into part of Obstacle Course
- Wheelbarrow Race
- Merged into part of Obstacle Course
- Beer Relay
- Bed Race
- Home-made beds on wheels were raced. This is now considered a liability nightmare.
- Scavenger Hunt
- Existed in 1980. Scavanger Hunts are now considered hazing
- Frisbee Throw
- Existed in 1980.
The event line-up has changed significantly over time. The 1976 event lineup was Pie Snarf, Beer Chug, Beer Marathon, Egg Toss, Five-Legged Race, Rope Pull, Beer Relay, and Bed Race.
The 1980 event lineup was Scavenger Hunt, Banner Contest, Obstacle Course, Raft Race, Wheelbarrow Race, Five-Legged Race, Beer Marathon, Beer Chug, Pie Snarf, Frisbee Throw, Egg Toss, Rope Pull, Beer Relay, Bed Race1.
Greek Week usually has a theme that all artistic in nature events are supposed to relate to.
[edit] Past themes
- 2007: Greek Week Heros: Capes Optional
- 2006: One Hit Wonder
- 2005: Putting the Western Back in Case Western
- 2004: Greeks go to Hollywood
- 2003: Old School
- 2002: Greekstock
- 1999: Greeks Rock!
[edit] Attitude towards
There are two dichotomous attitudes about Greek Week among Greeks. One group holds true to the origins of Greek Week and treats it as an opportunity to have fun and celebrate being Greek at Case. This group is contrasted by those who feel Greek Week is a competition and take it very seriously-- to the point where little fun is had and the whole point of Greek Week is to win events. Generally, sororities take it very seriously and fraternities are generally divided on the issue. Many of the chapters pick their battles and select to compete in events which are winnable, usually those requring artistic rather than physical skill. The dichotomous natures usually result in conflict between the two parties, as the serious group often attempts to disqualify other serious participants over trivial violations of the rules, while at the same time attempting to outlaw any actions by the non-serious groups that undermine the competitive nature of the events.
According to alumni, 'back in the day' Greek Week was a much bigger event on campus. Everybody across campus, Greek or not, knew what was going on and when. Some groups still took it seriously and tried to be the victors, but many other groups would just have fun in competition. Much more prevalent in the past were rivalries in between chapters, and chapters would put their pride on the line to gain victory. In an effort to maintain 'Greek Unity', rivalries are very heavily discouraged nowadays and the fear of disciplinary action has limited opportunities to actually have fun during Greek Week, so chapters that don't want to be competitive either have to walk a tightrope or be lame.
[edit] Rules and regulations
Greek Week is governed by a comprehensive set of rules. In recent years, the amount of rules has ballooned in size because those who want Greek Week to be serious try to limit what can be done by other groups. Often, rules are reactionary to past events. For example, in 2003, one chapter decided to build a pyramid for Rope Pull. When the match started, the other team pulled the top member into the mud pit. The next year, there was a rule specifying that all team members must be in the trenches and touching the rope.
Because of the reactionary nature of the rules, there is an unofficial sub-competition between the nonchalant participants to secure a new rule for next Greek Week. This competition is often good for a laugh or two, except for those who take things seriously: they are too busy attempting to get the prior group disqualified.