Senior Sigma Nu brother Ed Phillips reflects on the Greek experience following annual Greek Week
By Edward Phillips '11 | April 26, 2011
The annual festivities known as Greek Week were held April 11-16, 2011, on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College. So what exactly is Greek Week? It’s a bevy of events designed to get the three fraternities and four sororities on campus to interact with one another as well as the non-Greek students. It’s all about camaraderie and community. For me as a graduating senior, it was also a time to reflect on the Greek experience.
Having joined the Sigma Nu fraternity my freshman year, I think becoming a Greek has added a lot to my college experience. It really brought me out of my shell and taught me how to balance work with social activities. Also, I believe the chance to be a part of our chapter’s re-chartering process—which included compiling a 500-page document to prove that we were worthy of restarting the chapter at VWC— made me more responsible.
I look forward to Greek Week each year because it has given me additional opportunities to bond with my fraternity brothers. We always end the week with hilarious new stories that bring us closer together.
This year’s Greek Week activities included everything from diversity speaker Mark Elliot to a belly flop contest in the pool. Throughout the week, each fraternity and sorority attends the daily events and accumulates points for the percentage of their chapter in attendance. The organization with the most points at the end of Greek Week is declared the winner. This year’s speakers were a pleasant surprise for some attendees.
“I was skeptical about the speakers we had because of their topics,” said Rush Lifsey, a sophomore and fellow member of Sigma Nu, “but they were some of the best speakers I have ever heard at college.”
The last official event of the week is Greek Games, a series of comical contests such as the water balloon carry and the whipped cream pie challenge. Winners can rack up last minute Greek Week points. Seafood in the Dell is the coup de grace that follows the week’s activities. Virginia Wesleyan provides all students with a buffet style dinner including seafood and hamburgers as well as live music.
After four wonderful years with Virginia Wesleyan College and Sigma Nu, I have found that I enjoy the little things like Greek Week and Seafood in the Dell because they allow me to get closer to my brothers and my fellow students. The life lessons, friendship and brotherhood that have been instilled by members and students past will stick with me forever. I hope that when I graduate this May I will have had the same impact on others.