It's All Greek To Me: Shackin' It Up

By Broadside Copy Editor Deena Smith & Staff Writer Ethan Vaughan

“One Greek, One Cause, One Week” was the motif of this year’s Greek Week and last week, 23 of George Mason University’s fraternities and sororities united to obtain a common goal: to raise money for the Habitat for Humanity and Medical Care for Children Partnership for Fairfax County. Each chapter built their shacks on the North Plaza. After living in the shacks for two nights, they were able to raise $12,467.38.

Though this was only the second year that Mason Greeks participated in Shack-a-thon, there was a significant increase in the number of chapters who joined the cause.
“We only did it for 24 hours last year and this year was for almost 60 hours. We had more participation this year and more groups,” said Michelle Guobadia, assistant director of student activities for fraternity and sorority life.

Despite the low temperature and cold rain, the Greeks still came together to build and decorate their shacks with chapter colors and letters. Members were not only required to decorate their shacks, but also sleep in them through the night.

For freshman student Danielle Merson, a member of Alpha Xi Delta, Shack-a-thon was a fun experience. Merson, who received her bid in October, was eager to take part in the one-year-old tradition. She was in her sorority’s shack from 8 p.m. on Sunday night to 4 Monday morning.

“I probably got about two hours of sleep in the shack,” Merson said. “It was fun, though... It’s the closest thing to a Greek row we have here on campus.”

Shack-a-thon 2008 officially began at noon Sunday. Participants had a long list of rules that had to be followed in order to be part of the fundraising competition. Beyond the residency requirement, all shacks had to be made with non-hazardous materials, such as wood. Although each shack could be decorated or painted however the organization chose, only one layer of paint could be used on the building material prior to Sunday afternoon. It was mandatory that the construction and majority of the decorating happened on-site on Sunday. Each fraternity or sorority was assigned a 12’ x 12’ area where they were to build the shacks.

“It took a couple of hours,” Merson said, remembering the construction of her sorority’s Las Vegas-themed shack.

“Overall, we had four hours to do the whole thing.”

At any given time, there were to be at least two members of the organization inside or within 10 feet of their shack, which led to lots of socializing outside of the shacks between fellow Greeks, along with non-Greeks. There was also a DJ that played music all day and through most of the night for the campers.

Though the participants were able to enjoy themselves, the main purpose of the competition was to raise money. Sororities and fraternities could only raise money through donation areas or panhandling. Because there were a large number of groups participating this year, the organizations had to devise creative ways to ask passerbys for money. Some handed out flowers in return for donations while others simply thanked the person for supporting a great cause.

The shacks were disassembled on Tuesday and the materials used to build them will be donated to Habitat for Humanity.

The event included chapters from the Pan-Hellenic Council, the Interfraternity Council, the National Pan-Hellenic Council and the Multi-Cultural Greek Council.