The ABCs of Greek Life: Greek Week represents leadership, friendship and philanthropy

Columnist Erin Franczak writes about Ohio University's Greek Week this year.

What do Blue's Clues, food drives, dodgeball and sororities have in common? Greek Week.

Greek Week is a weeklong event that everyone involved in the Greek community is getting pumped about, especially me. Each sorority is paired with two fraternities in the Interfraternity Council and National Pan-Hellenic Council or Multicultural Greek Council fraternity. They are then given a team name that represents the year’s theme. Last year the winners were team Frozen with the Disney theme. This year’s theme is "Greekelodeon."

Even before the week begins, teams are practicing and preparing for the events. The main focus is creating the banner that will hang on the Women's Pan-Hellenic Association team members' house. It is an event that promotes the artists on each team and results in a banner representing the theme. I am so excited to take part in painting and incorporating myself into my team's banner.

First, James Robilotta, a speaker, author and life coach, will be talking to OU's Greek community on issues such as personal growth and leadership. Part of the competition is attendance points, so listening to this empowering individual speak will help teams get closer to winning.

There is also a dodgeball tournament meant to encourage good sportsmanship and friendly competition. Guess who thought it was a good idea to sign up for this event? Yep, I did, but I’m still really excited to compete and help my team.

Bringing back middle school field day is one of the days of Greek Week. Clearly, I’m excited for Greek Week because this is my first year participating, but I really cannot wait for field day. I signed up for a ton of activities featured on this day. Then there’s an Airbands skit. (Ask anyone, it's the highlight.) There is music, dancing and plenty more. Greek Week is a great opportunity for individuals to use their strengths to help their team.

Even though the event consists of goofy themes and fun, lighthearted competition, the main focus is philanthropy. There is a canned food drive where teams bring thousands of cans to help feed the homeless. How great is that? Yesterday, my best friend and I took the bus to Wal-Mart and spent money buying cans. Donating the money was easy — the hard part was carrying them all the way to the chapter house.

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Another popular event is the Penny Wars. Whoever brings in the most pennies decides what charity all the money goes to. So, it’s a pretty big deal. Teams get really hyped about this particular event. Teams also get points for helping out during Athens Beautification Day.

Overall, I’m just excited to be a part of an event that will help a lot of people, make me feel extra connected to my sisters, allow us to represent our organization well and be a lot of fun. Greek Week begins April 11.