In two days, when sororities and fraternities officially start the competitions of Greek Week, they will enter into a battle a lot like those that took place during the week of Homecoming.

But Molly Zagorski, a member of the Alpha Sigma Tau sorority, said people should not confuse the two weeks because they represent different things.

Comparable events like Airband versus Yell Like Hell and Homecoming Coronations versus Greek Week Court are where the similarities end, she said.

Zagorski, a senior special education major, said she thinks Greek Week is about the bonds within each house.

“Each house takes part in different events, so it brings each house together—even though we are competing against each other,” Zagorski said.

Zagorski also said her sorority trains harder for Greek Week—starting to practice for events like Tugs, Greek Sing and Airband a month or two prior to the week.

“We take Greek Week, I think, a lot more seriously than Homecoming because there are so many more events that we take part in,” she said. “There’s a lot of preparation that goes into it.”

Kassidy Seyller, a junior marketing major, said she thinks there is a greater prestige to a position on Homecoming Court.

Seyller, a member of Alpha Phi, is currently on the 2012 Greek Week Court and has been nominated for Homecoming Princess before.

“There is such a bigger spectrum of people that vote for (homecoming),” Seyller said. “The Greek community is very close, so it’s kind of like your own friends are voting for you; but homecoming, it’s kind of cool because a lot of people you don’t even know could vote for you.”

Jarrod Scherle, 2009 Homecoming King and Sigma Alpha Epsilon member, said there is a difference between winning Greek Week King and Queen versus Homecoming Court.

Scherle, who is also the student executive vice president, said winning a place on Homecoming Court, while an honor, is generally based on involvement on campus and all-around school spirit.

Scherle said obtaining a position during those two weeks involves having different kinds of connections on campus.

“Homecoming Week includes people that are not Greek,” Scherle said. “If you’ve got a lot of connections in the Greek world, then obviously you’ve got a good shot for Greek Week King or Queen.”

Aaron Wiessing said being voted Greek King or Queen is a direct representation of how the other Greek organizations see them.

Wiessing is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and won 2009 Homecoming Prince and this year’s Homecoming King—one of the only students to win both titles.

“It’s a completely different honor,” Wiessing said. “If you win Greek King or Queen, it’s more of a respect among your peers as Greeks.”

Only members of the Greek community are allowed to vote for Greek Week King and Queen.

Despite having its members crowned Homecoming King for the last fours years, SAE has not been able to snag a Greek Week crown—a task it has left up to Craig Wolf this year.

Wolf, a senior management information systems major, said there is pressure for him to win his chapter its first Greek Week crown.

“I want to be able to live up to it,” Wolf said. “We have a tradition, and I want to add to it.”

Wiessing said he thinks SAE has not been able to garner a title because of its relatively new status on campus as well as smaller size.

Eastern’s SAE chapter was given official chapter status on May 16, 2009, though it came to campus on March 31, 2007, according to its website.

“You look at groups like Lambda Chi or Sigma Pi, who have like 90 guys and you compare to somebody like us, who this time last year only had 45 guys, and that’s twice as many votes guaranteed,” Wiessing said. “It’s hard to compete with.”

Wolf agreed.

“I think that now that we are an established fraternity here that people are starting to recognize us,” Wolf said. “Our biggest issue was establishing our name.”

Wiessing said he does think fraternities like SAE were able to increase their numbers.

“The smaller groups are growing in their appeal to Greek Life, so I think it’s going to go better this year,” Wiessing said.

Homecoming Week is where the Greeks show their pride in Eastern, not their pride in their own organization like they do during Greek Week.

“But in Greek Week, you get to put together Greek Sing and Airband,” Scherle said. “It’s really just showing what your house is capable of—both are actually opportunities to show what your house is capable of—Homecoming is clearly more school spirit-based.”

Nike Ogunbodede can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].