UK's Greek Community Celebrates Contributions to Campus

The sights and sounds of fall on UK's campus are practically a tradition in themselves – students bustling across campus to get to class, hotdogs on a grill before kickoff at Commonwealth Stadium, the drum line’s cadence filling the late afternoon air. Another UK fall tradition is Greek Week, a week where all of UK's Greek-letter organizations strive to show the positive impact they have on campus.

"Greek Week is a long tradition at UK which celebrates the values the fraternities and sororities share," said Susan West, assistant dean of students and director of fraternity and sorority affairs. "Not only will there be opportunities for the entire Greek community to come together to have fun, but there also will be opportunities for service back to the Lexington community."

Greek Week kicked off on Sunday, Sept. 28, with Greek Graffiti. "Greek Graffiti is one of my favorite Greek Week events," said Patrick Keal, Interfraternity Council president and a member of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity. "All the chapters run around in the evening and mark banners at each house with some sort of symbol while the members of that house attempt to keep them away from the banner with water balloons and water guns. The event is a lot of fun and promotes a lot of interaction in the community."

Events last the entire week and allow for both the Lexington and campus communities to see what being Greek is all about.

"It is so much fun when all Greeks come together and participate in something positive, " Krista Hayes, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and president of the Pan-Hellenic Council, said. "We as Greeks always do community service or participate in events within our own chapters, but Greek Week allows us to come together and impacts non-Greek students by showing them who we are, how much fun we can be and how they can get involved in Greek life."

Fraternities and sororities are one way to make UK's large campus feel smaller and many students use their Greek affiliation as a springboard to get involved with other campus organizations.

"When I joined a sorority I was looking for a family here at UK, and for people that shared the same beliefs and values that I did that I could share not only my four years in college with but the rest of my life," said Julie Meador, a senior member of Alpha Delta Pi sorority and president of UK's Panhellenic Council. "The best part of sorority life is the sisterhood. I never imagined having such amazing friends in my life!"

"The best part of Greek life for me is to see over 3,900 students come together, all from different backgrounds and lifestyles with the common thread of being Greek, working together to build a better community," Keal said. "The Greek community has the ability to make a major difference in any way we choose, and it is awesome to see our members take advantage of that ability and do something good for the community."

For more information, visit Greek life at UK.