Noticing Greek Week's faded glory
Current competitions lack the participation alumni fondly remember
Cody Ewers
Issue date: 4/16/09 Section: Beyond
After eight excruciating minutes over a canal flowing with the grimy water of Lake Baw Beese, two members of the 1981 Sigma Chi tug-of-war squad decided they had had enough. They stood up and towed their team away from the water's edge, dragging their weary Alpha Tau Omega opponents into the abyss. The final heave signaled the end to the year's Greek Week and a victory for Sigma Chi.
Assistant to the President and Sigma Chi chapter advisor Mike Harner remembers the face off at Lake Baw Beese to be "a story of legend." It was the first time the Hillsdale College Sigma Chi house competed in Greek Week since becoming a chapter the year before.
Although Harner never saw Sigma Chi take Greek Week while he attended Hillsdale, he remembers Greek Week as a much bigger deal due to the importance the Greek system shared with Hillsdale's social scene.
"[Tug-of-war] was a monumental victory for us," Harner said. "Twenty-five years ago Greek life was the central focus of the college system."
Director of Alumni Relations and former Tau Kappa Epsilon member Grigor Hasted '74 remembered the popularity of the week-long event.
"It was huge. Everybody showed up for just about every contest - especially for the lake events," Hasted said. "We didn't have a clue what the scholarship cup was, but it sure meant a lot to us to win those events."
Greek Week was an excellent way to unify the house and promote healthy competition among students, Hasted said.
Competitions in the 1970s and '80s ranged from unusual Frisbee games, tug-of-war and slalom skateboarding to chariot races, canoe races and beer chugging contests.
Hasted said the TKEs won the beer chugging race three of his four years at Hillsdale and that it was always the smallest guy in the house that took the competition, oddly enough.
"I don't know if you could pour a pitcher out as fast as they drank it," Hasted said.
Former Chi Omega and current adviser for the house, Carol Morely Beck '77, said she remembers the female version of the fraternities' beer chugging contest - "Bloody Mary Sipping" that took place at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house.
Assistant to the President and Sigma Chi chapter advisor Mike Harner remembers the face off at Lake Baw Beese to be "a story of legend." It was the first time the Hillsdale College Sigma Chi house competed in Greek Week since becoming a chapter the year before.
Although Harner never saw Sigma Chi take Greek Week while he attended Hillsdale, he remembers Greek Week as a much bigger deal due to the importance the Greek system shared with Hillsdale's social scene.
"[Tug-of-war] was a monumental victory for us," Harner said. "Twenty-five years ago Greek life was the central focus of the college system."
Director of Alumni Relations and former Tau Kappa Epsilon member Grigor Hasted '74 remembered the popularity of the week-long event.
"It was huge. Everybody showed up for just about every contest - especially for the lake events," Hasted said. "We didn't have a clue what the scholarship cup was, but it sure meant a lot to us to win those events."
Greek Week was an excellent way to unify the house and promote healthy competition among students, Hasted said.
Competitions in the 1970s and '80s ranged from unusual Frisbee games, tug-of-war and slalom skateboarding to chariot races, canoe races and beer chugging contests.
Hasted said the TKEs won the beer chugging race three of his four years at Hillsdale and that it was always the smallest guy in the house that took the competition, oddly enough.
"I don't know if you could pour a pitcher out as fast as they drank it," Hasted said.
Former Chi Omega and current adviser for the house, Carol Morely Beck '77, said she remembers the female version of the fraternities' beer chugging contest - "Bloody Mary Sipping" that took place at the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house.
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Carol Morley Beck
posted 4/21/09 @ 11:05 AM EST
Dear Cody,
You have written a very insightful article but I must correct a few errors. My name is spelled Carol Morley Beck and I am not a former Chi Omega, I am a Chi Omega and always will be. (Continued…)
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