Tables lined Locust Walk yesterday with Penn's Greek organizations offering brotherhood and sisterhood to the student body.
The event, known as "Meet the Greeks," was one of the many that kicked off Greek Week, a time during the fall semester when fraternities and sororities promote Greek life at Penn.
There was also a barbecue held on College Green where Greeks and non-Greeks got together to chew and chat about the highlights of the Greek system at Penn.
"This is a celebration of Greek life," said Larry Moses, program coordinator for the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Affairs.
Moses also emphasized that this event displayed unity among all the chapters in the Penn Greek system and "showed that we are a part of campus."
College junior and Delta Sigma Theta sister Danielle Redd was at one of the tables promoting her sorority's attributes.
Redd pointed out that this event was not just to promote her sorority but to raise "awareness of different fraternities and sororities on campus."
DST was also conducting a penny drive at its table for the Philadelphia Children's Alliance, a center that aids victims of child sexual abuse.
College senior and Sigma Nu brother Joseph Nivin said that most students "only see individual houses." He continued to say that "freshmen get a distorted view of what the Greek system is about" and that this event allows brothers to "speak frankly before rush" about their fraternity.
"This is big for recruitment," said College senior Ashley Alexander, the vice president of recruitment for the Panhellenic Council. "The entire community sees who we are."
Greek Week will continue with other events later in the week.
Today from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. there will be a Student-Faculty Tea in the Crest Room -- formerly the Palladium -- on 36th Street and Locust Walk, which will honor Greek students who have displayed high academic achievement.
Tomorrow at 6 p.m. there will be a Greek Leadership Lecture Series at Stiteler Hall, where Philadelphia City Comptroller Jonathan Seidel and Philadelphia Business Journal Editor Bernard Dagenais will provide Greeks and non-Greeks with stories of how they reached the highest levels of their profession.
"They will impart knowledge on us so that hopefully one day we can reach the levels that they have," said Conor O'Callaghan, vice president of the InterFraternity Council.
On Thursday at 8 p.m. there will be a "Dispel the Myth" panel concerning race, culture and Greek life at Penn in Houston Hall's Bodek Lounge.
On Friday, students can party until they drop, or until 2 a.m., at the Locust Street Party, which starts at 10 p.m. Parties will be held at the Kappa Sigma, Phi Delta Theta, Delta Psi, Psi Upsilon and Phi Kappa Sigma fraternities.
Greek Week comes to a close on Sunday with the Rena Rowan Ribbon Run, an event which raises both awareness about breast cancer and money for research. The race starts at 11 a.m.
According to Lea Shafer, associate director for programming of OFSA, having the Rena Rowan Ribbon Run during Parent's Weekend will be great because "parents can do it as well" and "it's nice to do with family."
Last year the event raised $9,000. Shafer hopes to surpass that mark this year.
