The recent changes and additions to Greek Week can only be described as overdue. In the past few years, Greek Week has mainly consisted of the Mr. BU pageant, a picnic and little else. While the pageant is certainly an anticipated event for many students, two events hardly constitutes a week.
For this reason, Greek Council has taken action to make Greek Week more interesting and relevant. The Council has created an entire week of events that encourage not just attendance, but participation from all of the houses. In addition, one of the planned events, the Rockathon, is specifically designed to raise money for charity.
Another change is the expansion of the greek awards. In addition to changing the selection process for Greek Man and Woman of the Year to make it more prestigious, the committee also created new awards honoring chapters with outstanding participation in scholarship and community service. These awards will provide recognition for chapters that excel in these areas.
While these events may seem trivial, they could have a positive effect beyond just one week. Over the past several years, rivalries between greek organizations have led to vandalism and assaults. Having a week where all of the organizations on Baker’s campus come together to participate in fun activities will hopefully increase the unity and friendship between the organizations, which should reduce the problems caused by rivalries. This will benefit all students, not just greeks.