On Friday evening in a small Kresge Hall classroom, 40 people stood in a circle taking turns sharing if they had found a small, golden coin in their slice of traditional Greek new year’s cake called vasilopita. There is only one coin in the delicacy, and it symbolizes good luck for whoever is fortunate enough to find it in their serving.
This tradition was a part of Northwestern’s Greek American Legacy Association’s hour-long Greek New Year’s party with cake and conversation in abundance.
GALA was founded last year by SESP junior Kirka Kallioras and Weinberg senior Nikos Madianos for students of Hellenic descent and philhellenes — friends of Greeks. Kallioras said there was an absence of a community for Greek people and those that enjoy Greek culture before the club was founded at NU.
“We have people who were born in Greece, people who were born in the U.S. and are Greek and people who love Greeks,” Kallioras said. “We have people from everywhere.”
McCormick sophomore Achilleas Mittaris from Ioannina, Greece said he’s been involved in GALA since the beginning of his time at NU. He said he loves having a space to meet Greeks and Greek American students, as well as having a chance to experience the culture away from home.
Mittaris said funding is the biggest challenge the club faces right now. To host fun events, especially cuisine-related ones, the club needs more money, Mittaris said.
“A lot of people like Greek food,” Mittaris said. “If we had more funding, we could show more of our cuisine and our culture.”
Mittaris also said he appreciated how many non-Greek students showed up to the event. These attendees included Weinberg sophomore Alisa Vazgryna and McCormick junior Natalie Cheng, who both studied abroad in Greece.
They said they are both classics majors and took Ancient Greek classes with the club’s adviser, Weinberg Prof. Ryan Platte, who advertised GALA in his classes.
“The club offered modern Greek lessons last year,” Vazgryna said. “We thought, ‘Why don’t we show up?’ and so we went before going to Greece.”
In addition to offering language classes, Kallioras said GALA meets a couple of times per quarter and hosts various cultural events. In the past, she said, they have hosted a professional event with the consul general of Greece in Chicago, a Greek Easter celebration, Greek dancing class and frappe making session — a Greek coffee.
The New Year’s party was their first event of the quarter, and saw around 40 people in attendance, which Mittaris said exceeded his expectations.
“It was a big success,” Mittaris said. “A lot of people were here, and I love that it was not only Greeks; it was Greek Americans and people who love Greece.”
Email: [email protected]
Related Stories:
— ASG Senate allocates $10,000 in funding to new student organizations, swears in new co-president
— Extra funds could help new clubs get started
— Northwestern organizations provide ‘home away from home’ for Lunar New Year