By Alexi Knock, Assistant News Editor

David and Goliath both came out on top during Greek Week when Sigma Pi (the Cinderella story) and Alpha Phi (the returning winners) were named the champions at the end of their superhero themed fight for the title.

Greek Week is a seven-day event that all IFC (the fraternity panel) and Panhel (the sorority organization) groups participate in. The theme this year was superheroes, where Alpha Phi represented Wonder Woman and Sigma Pi were Aqua Man.  Men and women participated separately in several artistic and sporting events and whoever has the most points is announced as champion on the final day of Greek Week during the Greek Dinner. Every sorority and fraternity participated this year exceptt Delta Gamma.

“Although each organization competes against one another, it is a fun time to meet everyone,” said sophomore Alpha Phi member Jessica Sweet.

The sporting events included dodge ball, bowling, tug of war, a relay across campus and a surprise event, which was a swimming relay this year. Other events consisted of writing and performing a song about a child suffering from an illness, as well as constructing a chariot and racing it against other teams.

“We did well in all of the events, placing first in basketball, softball, volleyball, chariot [construction], toga skit and toga theme, and number of cans collected for [charity],” said sophomore Sigma Pi member and Greek Week Chair Ben Gildenberg.
Alpha Phi was similarly successful.

“We did fairly well in each event, placing either first or second in most of the individual events,” said senior Alpha Phi member Emily Marcellino.

Gildenberg, who made rosters for all the events that were to be competed and made sure everyone was aware of Sigma Pi’s schedule, felt that his fraternity’s success was certainly a group effort. “Although I was given the title of Greek Week Chair within the Fraternity, I didn’t do it alone,” said Gildenberg. “Everyone helped out to make sure everything ran as smooth as possible.”

As a fraternity, Sigma Pi has a rather unique story. Earlier this year, the young men of Sigma Pi worked hard to get themselves out of financial debt and return to campus. Not one brother in the organization had ever participated in Greek Week the men felt they were at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, Sigma Pi appeared to catch on quickly and prove they came to Greek Week to win.

“I feel that winning Greek Week was the perfect way to cap off a semester and show everyone including ourselves, that we had come full circle,” said Gildenberg. “Hearing the phrase, ‘Sigma Pi: Greek Week Champions’ was truly a great feeling.”

Unlike Sigma Pi, which consisted solely of newcomers, Alpha Phi were reigning champions of Greek Week and were looking to win their fifth consecutive title. “As a senior, winning number five was like being on top of the world,” said Marcellino.
Sophomore Alpha Phi member Erin Johnson participated in Greek Week for the first time this year. “I was in shock when we won because the points were so close,” said Johnson. “But the feeling I had when they announced Alpha Phi was amazing.”
 

Sigma Pi, which consisted of all newcomers, was one of the winners of this year’s Greek Week . (Photo Courtesy of WIlliam Bowerman)