On Siena Heights’ campus, Greek Week just finished, in enough time for all the Greek organizations recruitment or “rush” weeks.

Greek Week was a new idea, with the intent to increase the visibility of the Greek organizations on campus.

Justin Lempicki, one of the driving forces behind this week and president of Pi Lambda Phi in 2016, talked about the origins of the idea. He said Pi Lambda Phi, Phi Sigma Sigma and Alpha Phi Omega had begun the initial conversations for Greek Week back in August. They began to reach out to other Greek communities and “were astonished to learn that they had interest in helping out too and make this a true Greek Life event. Seeing how much interest other Greek communities had really made us realize that we need to make this happen and make it the awesome week that it was,” said Lempicki.

Alyssa Dail, another one of the driving forces behind this week and the president of Phi Sigma Sigma, described the purpose of Greek Week.

“The main goal was for people to see this Greek community that has not been highlighted on campus before,” said Dail.

She added that there are social, service and academic fraternities on campus, but not many people are not aware of this.

According to Dail, they want more people to know about the Greek Life presence on campus, appreciate it, and “better campus through collaborations.”

Lempicki summed up why Greek Week was important to him: “I think that Greek Week was important because it highlighted the different Greek communities on campus that have made significant contributions through excellent academic and social events and outstanding leadership to the Siena Heights community.”

This week featured three days, a “test run” of sorts, said Dail. Since this was the event’s first time, they wanted to start off smaller. However, with the coming years, they only hope for growth.

Monday kicked off with a Greek mixer in which all the Greek organizations were invited for a little chat, with food, of course. It allowed the other organizations to learn more about each other and promoted future collaboration between them all.

“We were able to grow closer with the Pi Lambs and APOs, especially, but the Greeks in general,” said Dail.

Tuesday was a service day in which Phi Sigma Sigma and Pi Lambda Phi worked together to help with Share the Warmth volunteer effort with the homeless. They did the laundry that day, prepared the meal and covered all the shifts.

Wednesday was the final day, with a Toga Party featuring a chocolate fountain and other fun snacks. Organizers said this was their attempt to almost mock the stereotype most Greek communities encounter, by making it into a fun time where people could come together, dance and hang out.

“The dance was my favorite because it appealed to a lot of people on campus who I didn’t realize would be interested in Greek life. It was really cool because we seemed to break down some barriers on campus,” said Dail.

As the week progressed, Alpha Phi Omega, a service co-ed fraternity on campus, joined in the fun and created flyers advertising all the Greek organizations at SHU, which Dail appreciated.

They said they eventually hope to grow this event to a week-long event. With each year, they hope to continually grow, said Dail.

Those who didn’t participate in Greek Week this year, be sure to check it out next semester! However, until then, there will be rush weeks. The Pi Lambs and Phi Sigs will have their rush week from Jan. 30-Feb. 2, and Alpha Phi Omega will have its rush week from Feb. 6-10.