Rachel Mills
For the Review

Members of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority danced themselves into victory in front of cheering Linfield fans during the Greek Week lip sync, the final event in a weeklong competition between the Greek organizations from May 4 to 7.
Senior Lacy Beth Peck, Phi Sigma Sigma president, said Greek Week included events that were designed to promote camaraderie among Greek organizations and to increase publicity around campus about Greek philanthropy and values.
“It gives people an idea about what Greek Life represents on Linfield’s campus,” she said.
Junior Devin Salinas, Theta Chi Fraternity president, said the week was intended to be a competition among Linfield fraternities and sororities.
“Each sorority paired up with a fraternity, and competed together in all the events,” Salinas said.
The pairs were: Theta Chi and Sigma Kappa Phi Sorority, Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Sigma Sigma, Kappa Sigma Fraternity and Alpha Phi Sorority, and Delta Psi Delta Fraternity with Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority.
The teams competed in a walk-a-thon May 4, in a variety of events during the Greek Games May 5, and performances at lip sync May 6. The winners were announced after lip sync. The final event, a softball game against the McMinnville Police Department, took place May 7.
Sophomore Sarah Spranger said she has been involved in Greek Life for two years. She currently serves as president of the Linfield Pan-Hellenic Council.
The LPC is the governing organization for all sorority activities, and the Inter-fraternal Council fulfills the same purpose for the fraternities.
“The walk-a-thon was a fundraiser for Henderson House,” Spranger said. “We collected lump sum or per-lap donations and the sorority/fraternity pair that raised the most money won the event.”
Spranger said that the walk-a-thon winner was Phi Sigma Sigma and Phi Kappa Alpha. In total, the event raised approximately $1300.
“It is the largest amount that the event has ever raised,” she said.
Senior Tal Edman, IFC secretary, said that the walk-a-thon is the most serious of the Greek Week events.
“The rest of the events are fun and goofy, but the walk-a-thon lets us do some community service, benefit a great organization and have fun at the same time,” Edman said.
Salinas said that the charitable efforts of Greek Week are important aspects of the events.
“Greek Week is about friendship, philanthropy and outreach,” he said. “Our goal is to benefit organizations such as Henderson House and to have fun while we do so.”
Field day, which took place May 5, was also a success, Edman said, but in an entirely different way.
“We had a variety of events, including a chariot race, a Twinkie-eating contest, an egg toss, a bat spin relay and orange necking,” he said.
Spranger said that the field day Greek Games were simply designed for fun.
“Lots of people came out to watch and cheer and support their brothers and sisters,” Spranger said. “It is good for the Greeks to come together and have fun as a group instead of as individual organizations.”
The prime event of the week took place May 6. Teams from the eight Greek organizations gave lip sync performances in Ice Auditorium.
“The lip sync is all about being wild and fun,” Edman said. “Some groups take it seriously and practice for weeks, but it’s really just a chance to act crazy in front of your friends.”
Peck said that the lip sync draws the most non-Greek observers.
Linfield students and community members donated two cans of food as admission to watch lip sync. Salinas said that canned goods would be donated to the Yamhill County Food Bank.
After the lip sync, members of LPC and IFC tallied the scores from the week. Based on their combined scores from the walk-a-thon, field day, and lip sync, members of Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Sigma Sigma were declared the Greek Week winners. The Alpha Phi/Kappa Sigma team were runners up.
Though the scoring was complete, two members from each organization participated in a final Greek Week event May 7 when they hit the softball field to play an informal scrimmage with the McMinnville Police Department.
“The game [wasn’t] worth any points,” Edman said. “It is important because it fosters good relationships between the Greeks and the police.”
Edman said the Greeks integrate with the police officers to put some members of each organization on each team. He said that this helps both groups see one another positively.
Salinas said that during Greek Week, the members focused on their fun activities and on their charitable efforts, but they also used the week as an opportunity to recruit new members.
“Often, people see how much fun we have and want to try if for themselves,” Salinas said. “Maybe those who aren’t Greek will join. We always like to get new members.”
Salinas said Greek Week gives the organizations a chance to reach out to the Linfield community and allows students to see what Greek Life is all about: camaraderie, philanthropy and fun.