The Fraternity and Sorority Life 5K raised $2,000 for the Alliance for the Great Lakes, a nonprofit headquartered in Chicago dedicated to protecting local freshwater from pollution, on Saturday.
Drawing about 200 students, the event was jointly hosted by Northwestern’s four Greek life governing councils — the Panhellenic Association, National Pan-Hellenic Council, Multicultural Greek Council and Interfraternity Council by the Lakefill.
The 5K was part of Greek Week, a series of philanthropy and community-based events on campus held by the four councils. The week of events started with a park clean-up on Monday and ended with a formal banquet on Sunday.
SESP junior and IFC President Brayden Golder said Associate Dean of Students Christopher Zacharda first approached him in the winter with the prospect of Greek Week.
“He said, ‘We don’t have Greek Week here at Northwestern, why don’t we?’” Golder said. “And I said, ‘Why don’t we?’”
SESP sophomore and PHA President Marisol Cristina Vasquez Guillena said when it came to selecting the FSL 5K’s philanthropy group, she searched for a third party that matched the event’s theme of Earth Day, finally settling on the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Guillena said part of defining Greek life culture on campus is collaborating with and maintaining relationships between councils. She said she hopes events like Greek Week can continue into the future.
“I don’t think collaboration needs to be an annual checklist. It can be something that we choose to do anytime,” Guillena said.
The 5K route followed Sheridan Road down to the Lakefill before looping back around to Kemper North Area Lawn.
Weinberg junior and Delta Gamma member Ila Gordon said she appreciated the chance to be involved in Greek life outside her chapter.
“I’ve never come before, but a lot of the Greek Week activities seem pretty cool,” she said.“We thought that this would be a really good way to start.”
Golder said he hopes Greek Week encourages current and incoming students on campus to partake in Greek life. He said when he was a first-year, he didn’t think being in a fraternity was meant for him, but meeting other students through formal recruitment gave him lifelong friends.
The event was a way for Greek life to bring the NU community closer together for good causes — going beyond being a part of campus social life, he said.
“You see people dapping each other up, smiling, building that community,” Golder said. “This is what Greek life is. This is what community builds.”
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