Greek dance the night away for charity

With Madonna and Marvin Gaye blaring from the speakers and colored lights flashing, hundreds of Greeks danced the night away for charity Saturday at the Christian Association building. The Panhellenic Council, the InterFraternity Council and the Bicultural InterGreek Council co-sponsored the four-hour long Dance for a Cure, which raised $3,200 for the Rena Rowan Breast Health Center, Panhel's official philanthropic cause. Dance for a Cure was the centerpiece of Greek Weekend, a four-day series of events, showcasing fraternity and sorority life on campus. "It's great to be holding fun, non-alcoholic events and also be raising money for charity," said Panhel Executive Vice President and Phi Sigma Sigma sister Dayna Platt. IFC Executive Vice President John Buchanan agreed, citing Greek Weekend's traditional "social freeze" -- meaning that fraternities and sororities are not allowed to hold events where alcohol is served. "We want to encourage Greek houses to participate in Greek weekend events," said Buchanan, a College junior and Phi Kappa Psi brother. Juice and bagels for the dance were donated by Nantucket Nectars and Izzy and Zoe's, and Allegro's allowed the Greeks to purchase pizza at a 20 percent discount. Several area restaurants and bars also co-sponsored the event. Although the event was co-sponsored by all three Greek umbrella groups on campus, the several hundred students in attendance Saturday night were predominantly female. IFC President and Alpha Chi Rho brother Andrew Mandelbaum, a College junior, explained that although the IFC encouraged their members to attend, it did not require it. But the Greeks who did attend were very positive about the event. "Breast cancer's a great cause," said College junior Jen Maurer, a Phi Sig sister. "Since I'm in a sorority at Penn, this is a great way to support Panhel, especially since breast cancer has affected my family within the last year." The Rena Rowan Breast Health Center -- a division of the Penn Health System's Cancer Center -- is scheduled to open this fall. Panhel plans to raise more money for the center by making last fall's 5K Pumpkin Chase run an annual event. Other Greek Weekend events included a coffeehouse at the Alpha Epsilon Pi house -- which raised $872 for the Breast Health Center -- a street clean-up project in conjunction with UC Green and a field day for children in the PennPals mentoring program.