Greeks have been putting their heads together to create inspired spins from the National Pan-Hellenic Council Chapters’ strolls and will show off their steps at the Unity Stroll at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The Stroll will be at the Doudna steps, if the weather permits. If the weather is not OK for the event, it will be moved to the University Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union.

Three of the NPHC chapters have been working with some of the chapters in the Interfraternity Council and Panhellenic Council. The NPHC Chapters include Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity. Nine are from the IFC and nine are from the PHC.

Nicolas Appleby, a junior music composition major and the president of Delta Chi Fraternity, said his fraternity, along with others, are paired up the women of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority.

“This event promotes overall unity,” Appleby said. “It shows that we’re willing to work with each other and that is a good thing to show the campus. It keeps positive vibes going.”

Breanna Young, a senior applied engineering and technology major and the coach representing Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, said the chapters from the NPHC usually pick a fast stroll and a slow stroll to show the other Greeks from the PHC and the IFC.

A stroll is a unified dance that the members of the NPHC perform, that is unique to each of the nine chapters. Young is coaching Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity, Sigma Kappa Sorority and Sigma Nu Fraternity.

Young said a lot of the times the Greeks do things separately, and this event will unite the Greeks and push for them to step out of their comfort zones.

“It didn’t take us long to start breaking boundaries with each other and being comfortable around one another,” Young said.

Appleby said Greek Week is competitive in nature, and the stroll-off allows students to work together instead of against each other. Appleby said the Unity Stroll is laid back in comparison to the Greek Week’s Airband.

People get a chance to see everyone let down their walls a bit and genuinely see them having fun, Appleby said.

Young said the traditional hand signs and chants that the members of the NPHC do are off limits, but it is OK for people to do the steps and strolls.

“At the end of the day, everybody is their own person and can do what they want to do, and we look at it as just a fun event,” Young said.

Christopher Dorsey, a junior applied engineering and technology major and the coach representing Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, said the stroll-off brings the diverse Greek cultures to a common place and gets them working together as a team.

“We’re divided and it’ll bring unity because at the end of the day we are one. We are EIU,” Dorsey said.

Mike Hartung, the unity chair for Greek Week, said a lot of people assume the Greeks only care for their organizations.

Hartung said because of conflicting schedules, all of the Greeks were not able to participate this year.

If the weather is as predicted, with a lot of rain, they have the space reserved just in case, Hartung said.

T’Nerra Butler can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].