Greek Week kickoff rained out
Although the San Diego Padres made it through Opening Day without getting rained out, those wishing to celebrate the opening day of Greek Week weren’t so lucky.
San Diego State fraternities and sororities planned to go to the second game of the Padres season on Tuesday.
The weather was manageable when express trolleys transported the students to Petco Park at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in Downtown. At the park, nearly 900 SDSU Greeks awaited rain-delay announcements to find out the game had ultimately been postponed.
Greek Week executive board co-chair Zachary Calig said the board developed a contingency plan in case of the rain.
“We were all looking forward to the game, but our tickets will be valid for a game in the future,” Calig said. “We hope to try and make that a group Greek event.”
After the game was cancelled, students returned to campus.
Although the first event of the week didn’t go as planned, Calig said the board thinks the remaining events will go more smoothly.
The Greeks will have a carnival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today on Centennial Walkway and the Free Speech Steps. Events include a barbecue, pie-eating contest, can-stacking contest and live music.
The talent show, one of the week’s main events, will be held at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the SDSU Open Air Theatre.
Proceeds of this week’s events will benefit Dream Street, a non-profit organization that provides summer-camp programs for children with chronic or life-threatening diseases.
Greeks have already raised more than $25,000, an amount that surpasses last year’s total by more than $5,000.
Councils recognized at regional conference
Newly elected council members took some of their first orders of business last week as leaders of the Interfraternity, Panhellenic, National Pan-Hellenic and United Sorority and Fraternity councils attended the Western Region Greek Association Conference in San Francisco. The SDSU Greek system was one of 16 colleges and universities to participate in the event.
SDSU’s PHC was one of three recipients of the Patrick J. Naessens Educational Programming Award, an honor recognizing outstanding achievement in inter-council relations and programs.
Panhellenic Association President Bennett Ball said she felt SDSU was one of the leading councils at the conference because of its in-depth student involvement.
“We realize how wonderful San Diego State is and how well our councils work together,” Ball said, “just based on hearing from other councils who don’t even know what NPHC is.”
Ball said that while council relations can continue to improve, the SDSU Greek system has a solid foundation.
Incoming Interfraternity Council President Burley Wright said that the weekend promoted communication and a brainstorming of ideas.
“I got to know the rest of the elected members,” Wright said. “Between the four of us, I think we have come up with plans to kick next year off to a great start.”
Wright said that speakers kept his mind rolling for what to expect and how to improve the recruitment, risk management tactics and standards of excellence in the SDSU Greek community.
Wright said the student-led discussions made the most impact on him.
“There were a ton of motivational speakers who were really great,” Wright said, “but it’s different having a 40-year-old guy talking to you instead of your own peers.”
