On Friday, February 10, onlookers packed in Red Square to witness a rare moment on campus: the synchronized movement of more than one thousand students, alumni and supporters choreographed to the beats of The Black Eyed Peas’, “Boom Boom Pow.” The exhilarating “flash-mob” that ensued was just one portion of a full-day experience, coordinated by the Make-a-Wish Foundation, for Alex, an 11-year-old boy suffering from Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The event traversed the Seattle area, making stops at Seattle Children’s Hospital, The Port of Seattle, University of Washington and the Microsoft Atrium, each experience culminating to satisfy

Alex’s hope to help robots bring peace to Earth. The planning of Alex’s experi-ence began in November and was headed by Jessie Elenbaas, Wish Coordinator for the Alaska and Washington chapter of Make-A-Wish. Elenbaas, who has a background as a dance instructor, designed the movements for the flash-mob and spread word of the event by posting an invitation to Facebook. The use of the social networking site to garner partici-pants proved successful: “I saw it grow from 35 people attending to 850. I expected about half to show up. There were at least 1000 people at Red Square on Friday. It was amazing,” said Elenbaas. The choice to use Red Square as the location for the monumental flash-mob was

two-fold. A portion of Alex’s experience occurred in the Bio-Robotics Lab with Professor Howard Chizeck, so to have the flash-mob on Red Square seemed like a no brainer to Elenbaas. However, she also “felt strongly that many UW students would be excited to dance [and] participate,” a sentiment verified by the amount of people dancing in coordination on Friday. The large support from outside of the Make-A-Wish Foundation fuels Elenbaas’ passion for ser-vice to extremely sick children. “I absolutely love my job and feel blessed and honored to learn of these hopes [and] dreams from our wish kids and then to reach out to the right people in our community and beyond to make their wishes come true.”

Issue 3 ■ Volume 23 ■ Feb. 22, 2012 ■ University of WashingtonGreek VoiceT

heGreek Voice ■ Feb. 22, 2012 ■ Issue 3 ■ Volume 23 2

Have story ideas for the Greek Voice? Email them to

uwgreekvoice@gmail.com by February 27!

Greek Voice StaffEditors Aaron Hsieh Audrey Bastian

Office of Fraternity and Sorority LifeCondon 223EPhone: (206) 543 1810Website: www.uwgreeks.com

Staff Writers Elizabeth Amos, Meredith Barrett, Mark Dunford, Katherine Faoro, Devon Geary, Daniel Gebru, Bjorn Halvorson , Sara Slayton, Julia Marquiss, Olivia Morgan, Marika Price, Elizabeth Schneider, Krista Staudinger

Academics. Could there be a word more intimidating within the Greek community? Every quarter chapters compete to have the highest GPA within the entire Greek community. With the huge number of sororities and frater-nities, it is no easy task to reach first place. That is why a round of applause should be given to Chi Psi and Delta Zeta for achieving first in grades fall quarter! Both chapters agreed that col-laboration was needed to make sure that everyone reached their goals. Seth Hampton, Chi Psi Academic Chair said a supportive network was the key, “Everybody was looking out for one another and challenging them to their full potential. You weren’t the only one concerned about how you did in school, you have a bunch of guys looking out for you.” Kelsey Mayer, the Academic Chair for Delta Zeta said that they would hold individuals ac-countable for their grades but they worked together as a house to find solutions for people who

might have been struggling. Delta Zeta and Chi Psi were both creative in their approaches for doing well. Chi Psi’s strategy was more of a mindset: they believe that a strong push was needed for the “Top Grades” honor. At Delta Zeta, Starbucks cards are given as incentives as well as an ice cream social for those indi-viduals who make top grades. As it is with every chapter, maintaining excellent grades all quarter is nothing short of a challenge. For Chi Psi, the biggest issue was helping the freshmen transition into the college atmo-sphere. Some of the older mem-bers in the chapter would pass on

their study techniques to help. Delta Zeta said their hard-est challenge was “keeping one another in check. It is hard to not want to be talking and hanging out with each other all the time, the hard part is getting down to the studying!” Chapters were excited to hear that they were first in grades. Mayer wanted to reiterate how awesome it was: “I am really re-ally proud of my house. The girls put in a huge effort last quarter. I am especially proud of the fresh-men class, they were also top grades for a new pledge class.” When asked what it meant to be “academically excellent” Hampton replied, “We are a fraternity in the pursuit of excel-lence. We can’t be perfect, but we are always pushing ourselves to our best capabilities.” In an environment full of so-cializing and fun, it is easy to lose sight of the reason why all of us are here: to get an education. It is important to figure out how to in-tegrate fun and studying. It takes work but everyone is capable!

Academics: Smart Greeks not geeks

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February 21 - 24Zeta Beta Tau Philanthropy

February 22Delta Delta Delta Pancake Feed

February 23Delta Gamma Sausage FestASUW Everybody, Every Body Fashion Show

February 24ASUW Drag Competition

February 26Sigma Beta Rho Philanthropy “Smash for a Cause”

February 28Study Slam at Odegaard from 6:30 - 9 pm

March 2Panhellenic Recruitment Counselor Applications Due

March 3HUG Dance Marathon

March 6Greek Awards Banquet in Walker Ames Room

By Elizabeth Amos

Make-a-Wish Foundation “robots” invade Red SquareBy Olivia Morgan

The Panhellenic and Interfra-ternity Councils attended the As-sociation of Fraternal Values and Leadership Conference(AFLV) in St. Louis, MO from Feb. 9-12. The councils attended posi-tion-specific programs as well as sessions for governing councils, chapters, and advisors. The conference concluded with an awards ceremony in which both councils received awards. IFC received an award for outstanding achievement in self-governance and judicial affairs for Division IV schools. Panhellenic also competed in the Division IV category and won awards for out-standing achievement in academ-ic achievement, council manage-

---News in Brief---ment, membership recruitment, philanthropy and community service, risk reduction and man-agement and self-governance and judicial affairs. Panhellenic was also one of four schools nomi-nated for the Division IV Shel-ley Sutherland Award, the most prestigious award given at the conference.

Study TipsFebruary is NPC’s month of the scholar. Here are tips to finish the month strong!-Create a quiet room specifically for studying-Participate in study tables-Require study hours-Visit the library and study in groups

Councils awarded at AFLV

On Sunday, February 26th, 2012, Sigma Beta Rho fraternity will be hosting “Smashing for a Cause” a Nintendo 64 Super Smash Bros tournament to raise money for their philanthropy, SOS Children’s Villages. There is a $10 entrance fee for teams of two and the winners will receive 50% of the total profits.

Smashing for a Cause