homecoming 2013
DESCRIPTION
Homecoming Edition of Letters MagazineTRANSCRIPT
LETTERSIOWA STATE GREEK COMMUNITY HOMECOMING 2013
HOMECOMING 101
THE TRADITION CONTINUES
LETTERS 2 NOVEMBER 2013 3
THIS EDITION 4
5
6
8
10
12
14
16
GREEKS AND HOMECOMING
2013 BANNERS
DODGEBALLBATTLESHIPROCKCLIMBINGTUG-O-WAR
VOLLEYBALLSOCCERNINTENDOTREDS
WIFFLEBALLBASKETBALL
BLUE SKY DAYSPAITING AMES FOR HOMECOMING
BUILDING GREEK TRADITION
YELL LIKE HELL
LETTERSHOMECOMING 2013
GREC TEAMbrought to you by the
VP Public RelationsCollegiate Panhellenic [email protected]
VP Public RelationsInterfraternity [email protected]
Advertising/[email protected]
Advertising/[email protected]
Design/[email protected]
Advertising/[email protected]
Design/[email protected]
Greek Alumni Alliance PR [email protected]
INEKE ARMSTRONG
BRICE BALLENTINE
DAVID GARDNER
LAUREN HAYES
JOHN KLUMPP
MIKAYLA LAHAYE
KILEY PAWLAK
KRISTIN PETERSON
KARLI SANDOS
MORGAN WOODVINE
TAYLOR VERMEER
JUSTIN MATTINGLY
DIRECTORS
STAFF
LETTERS 4 NOVEMBER 2013 5
It is hard to walk through the houses of the Greek Community during Homecoming without noticing unique excitement and eager participants roaming the halls.
When you look at the yards filled with lawn displays or see people painting banners; when you watch hoards of people exiting the community to head to Yell Like Hell practices or notice the unloading of cars stuffed with cans of paint – you are experiencing only a small fraction of what Greeks contribute to Iowa State’s Homecoming.
Greeks show up in the masses for the painting of storefront windows in campustown, decorating victory lane, displaying banners, building sets, competing in sports, practicing and preforming skits and stomps, participating in community service, and showing their fair share of Iowa State spirit. Not to mention, many Greek Community members stand up every year, often in freezing temperatures wearing little more than a layer of latex paint, and shout their Iowa State traditions to the Ames community, alumni and students.
GREEKS:Maintaining the
Tradition ofHomecoming
But why? Well, you see, the Greek Community was built on tradition.
Traditions keep the Greek Community going. Traditions are incorporated in ritual, in the Greek pillars, and in the events that feed fraternal relationships. Homecoming celebrates the longstanding traditions of our University. In the same way that ritual helps Greeks to appreciate their past and how their chapters have grown, Homecoming does the same for Iowa State as a whole.
The Greek community competes together and celebrates together in appreciation of Iowa State and the Cyclone community. Alumni often return to Ames and admire the hard work of their chapters and remember the times they too pulled all-nighters to complete a Lawn Display set or stained their clothes with paint in pursuit of the coveted Yell Like Hell trophy.
A trophy may often be a goal for the pairings but the Greek Community participates in Homecoming for more than the awards. In fact, 75% of Homecoming Central (coordinators of Homecoming) are members of Greek chapters.
Greek or not, the tradition of Homecoming continues to spread spirit to the community and the Iowa State Greek Community is a major part of continuing that tradition.
KRISITN PETERSON
2013TOP
THREE
BANNER WINNERSChi Omega, Delta Tau Delta, Delta Chi
Phi Delta Theta, Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Kappa Theta
Farm
Hou
se, G
amm
a Ph
i Bet
a, D
elta
Ups
ilon
LETTERS 6 NOVEMBER 2013 7
HOMECOMING
TOURNAMENTS“I like dodgeball because it brings out the competition in people and it’s not your
average sport to watch.”CASEY WALES
Cy Squad Member
“I like dodgeball because it’s not
necessarily based on your athletic skills, it’s more based on your flexibility and it’s an
even match and a lot of fun to watch.”
ANNA BADOVINACKappa Alpha Theta
THIS IS SO
EXCITING.
“
”REED LECHNER
TAU KAPPA EPSILLON
“I think it’s a great competition and it’s
really awesome to see so many Greeks come out to support it, hanging over the railings, watching and having fun.“
MICHAEL HEGERBeta Sigma Psi
“I’m a big fan of tug o war, I’ve always
enjoyed watching it and it’s one of my favorite events in both Greek Week
and Homecoming. ”BRENT SEXTON
Alpha Gamma Rho
LETTERS 8 NOVEMBER 2013 9
VOLL
EYB
ALL
SOC
CER T
RED
S
NIN
TEN
DO
100 years of tradition can be difficult to top, but Iowa State’s Greek Community proves once again their ability to keep the traditions alive. Buzzing with excitement, the Greek Community prepared once again for the competitive nature of tournaments. Competitions ranging from Battle Ship to Whiffle Ball brought a new energy to the athletic complexes including Lied, State gym and Beyer Hall. Despite its ill-timed arrival (All Hallows Eve), one of the more popular tournaments this year was Volleyball. Supporting chapter members filled the gymnasium elevating the sound level from loud to deafening. Even disaffiliated members stepped out from the shadows to encourage their Greek community. One such individual said; “It’s so inspiring to see the community come together and play such a competitive yet well rounded sport.” She, who asked to remain anonymous, went on to say that she is proud to be part of such a talented community. Talent indeed – it’s always impressive to see the number of athletes we have in the Greek Community. This year, the pairing of Sigma Kappa’s ability to block, dig and serve won them the gold and bragging rights in Volleyball. May the tournaments continue as we leap into 102 years of tradition.
This November 5th students of Iowa State University’s Greek Community were given a chance to travel back to their childhood. A group of four members from each Homecoming pairing competed to show who still had the best gaming skills in Super Mario Smash brothers, Mario Kart, and Battle.
First, came Super Mario Smashbrothers. With a very competitive atmosphere, not one pairing obtained an easy win. Kevin Holford, member of Lambda Chi Alpha, said; “We won the first match, but lost the second,” showing that this part of the tournament was not going to be predicatable. “Yoshi was my biggest challenge,” said Alex Cutler, member of Beta Sigma Psi.
Not too long after the start of Super Mario Smashbrothers, the Mario Kart races began. One girl from each pairing would be the driver, taking on the challenge to win first for each course against three to four other opponents. “Playing against people you don’t know was my biggest challenge,” said Madison Hiskey, member of Chi Omega and winner of Mario Kart.
The last part of the Nintendo 64 tournament was Super Mario Battle. Competitors were on a course trying to pop all of their opponent’s balloons. Members participating in Battle competed against one or two other people. Catherine Dunbar, member of Gamma Phi Beta, said, “I’d rather race, but Battle is a lot more competitive, which is fun!” Fun is exactly what all players of the Nintendo 64 tournament had. Win or lose, having the chance to relive your childhood experiences is always a good time!
VOLLEYBALL
On Tuesday night, the Greek Community packed the fields at Lied Rec to watch the annual soccer tournament. Just five minutes before the first games, the scene was chaotic: whistles buzzed, chants were yelled, and the sound of tennis shoes violently colliding with soccer balls echoed off the walls of the gymnasium - but two players for Acacia fraternity weren’t bothered. Mike Hoefer, Junior said before the game: “I’m feeling like a bird in the sky right now. This is more intense than the Super Bowl!” His teammate, sophomore Jon Ellis, agreed and said; “I’m feeling saucy!” The energy that most players felt at the start of the games usually evaporated after two halves of play, howev-er, after two games Ezra Auerbach, Senior in Sigma Chi, said “We dun real good and I’m real sore.” As the night went on, the stakes only grew higher.
SOCCER“We’ve got to risk it to get the biscuit.”
JORDAN MUGARURADelta Tau Delta
“It’s so inspiring to see the
community come together
and play such a competitive yet well rounded
sport.”
NINTENDO
“YOSHI WAS MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE.”
ALEX CUTLERBeta Sigma Psi
An always popular homecoming sport, Treds, is a lethal combination of flag football and ultimate Frisbee. Teams arrived early to Lied Athletic Facility to organize, practice and develop their stra-tegic method of play. In support of their chapters, non-competing members flooded the athletic complex displaying enthusiasm and confidence in their teams. Soon it was time for the games to commence and the energy quickly shifted from auspicious to focused and tense. “The competitive nature of the Greeks never gets old,” said an onlooker. Indeed, Greeks are competitive and Home-coming Tournaments are certainly a fine example of this. As the hours passed, there were soon fewer and fewer teams left until finally Sigma Kappa defeated Chi Omega in the battle for Gold. I think it is safe to say, Cardinal Treds is one competition guaranteed to continue into future.
“The competitive nature of the Greeks never
gets old.”ANONYMOUS
TREDS
MIKAYLA LAHAYE INEKE ARMSTRONG
DAVID GARDENER
MIKAYLALAHAYE
MORGAN FOLDESSALC President
NOVEMBER 2013 11LETTERS 10
Homecoming 101 continued with the new sport from last year’s tournaments, wiffle ball. Unlike traditional baseball or softball, wiffle ball is played using a plastic bat and ball. To ensure fairness the pitcher is from the batters team putting a unique spin to a classic backyard game.
When asked about participating in wiffle ball this year, sophomore Mikaela Boss of Alpha Gamma Delta said; “Wiffle ball was way more physically demanding than what I thought it was going to be. Homecoming central put duck tape around the wiffle ball so it wouldn't float like a wiffle ball should, but players were able to hit line drives causing the game to be faster paced. As a softball player myself, I had an absolute blast playing!”
Kappa Alpha Theta Homecoming Co-Chair Kelsey Grote came to support her pairing. Her favorite part of homecoming tournaments was watching the friendly competitiveness among different Greek chapters.
After a light night of playing, Sigma Kappa won first place following in second place was Gamma Phi Beta, third place went to Alpha Delta Pi and fourth place went to Pi Beta Phi.
“Basketball is our favorite sport and we love the way the players dribble up and down the court.” Homecoming basketball had an amazing turnout this year as members attended to cheer on their pairing. It is a lot more than just competing for points. Rylei VanderPlaits, junior in Kappa Delta said; “The best thing about homecoming basketball is cheering on your pairing and your friends. It is also good competition in the Greek Community.” Friendly competition is what homecoming is about, it is about coming together as a community and pushing each other to become better. It’s a time to hang out with friends in other chapters time and possibly gain some bragging rights for a few months until the next basketball tournament during Greek Week.
WIFFLEBALL
BASKETBALL
“Homecoming basketball is great because it is always fun hanging with your brothers, but it is also fun getting to play with your friends from other chapters. ”
JOEL MAGRUDERFarmhouse
Each year brings another opportunity for Greeks to give back during Homecoming. Not only is it a great shot at selfless service, it also brings the community together. One of the more interesting Homecoming opportunities is collecting pop tabs for the Ronald McDonald House. Millions are rounded up by each Greek pairing throughout the year in preparation for service opportunity. Each pop tab converts to one penny.Thanks to all who contributed to the cause this year!
POP TABS FOR DAYS
New to Iowa State this year is an initiative called Up ‘Till Dawn. For those of you who are not familiar with “Up ‘Till Dawn”, it is made up of two events held on the same night to raise money for St. Judes Childrens Reseach Hospital. One portion of the evening is dedicated to a Letter Sending Event followed by a Celebration event. Dominic Hagar, a Junior and member of Beta Theta Pi said, “It is just another way the Greek Community is getting involved in philanthropic opportunities.”
Much like Dance Marathon, Up ‘till dawn is now looking into universities to help finance research initiatives for children around the world. We are currently a resource waiting to be “tapped.” A little bit goes a long way and as a Iowa State’s Greek Community continues to grow I’m sure we will see more leaps and bounds taking place in the medical research realm. After all, who doesn’t like having fun and saving lives?
HAVING FUN & SAVING LIVES
“We, as college students, are in a unique position in that
we have the ability to network with a large student body.”
DOMINIC HAGARBeta Theta Pi
“Not only do I like representing the entire Greek community, but I get to represent Iowa State too and learn what the student body is about, and
how we like to get involved.”CASEY WALES
CySquad Member
KILEY PAWLAK
BRICE BALLENTINE
BRICEBALLENTINE
MIKAYLA LAHAYE
LETTERS 12 NOVEMBER 2013 13
BLUE SKY DAYSNovember 2nd brought a beautiful fall morning and a new twist to the annual Blue Sky Days 5k run. The run received a splash of color this year: at the event many participants dressed up – white tutus were among the most notable. “We saw [tutus] online with other Color Runs, so we were like, ‘let’s do tutus’,” said Amber Baughman.
Mitchell Moody, a member of Homecoming Central Committee, said that HCC had been planning for the run since around De-cember of last year and enjoyed seeing everything come togeth-er the day of.
Moody explained that there were four stations for participants to run through, each offering a chance for a color-filled experience. The goal for many participants this year was to get painted with each of the colors, or at least four, by the time they finished.
When talking with Greek participants about their thoughts on the addition of color, most agreed it was exciting change to the run, making for a great incentive to complete the 5k. Audrey Bloom, member of Kappa Alpha Theta said, “It is just fantastic!” Alex VanAlstyne of Theta Xi agreed that the run was a lot more fun in comparison to previous years without the color.
In the midst of colored explosions, the average time it took for participants to complete the course was around an hour, but For Macen Van Allen, a member of Beta Theta Pi, it quite a different story. He took first place with a time of 17 minutes and 29 seconds and surprisingly had never participated in the past.
This year brought record-breaking attendance to Blue Sky Days and it is safe to say the addition of color may have played a role in this.
PAINTINGAMES
“I really love that we beautify Ames.”MARIA BEAR
Alpha Gamma Delta
INEKE ARMSTRONG
LETTERS 14 NOVEMBER 2013 15
KRISITN PETERSON
Building Greek traditionDisplay Co-chairs
Jessica McDonald and Michael Burt prepare for
Homecoming 101.
DISPLAYSlawn
“It’s always fun to watch the process of lawn displays
starting from groundbreaking the performance night,” said Jess McDonald, Homecoming Central Co-Chair for Displays.
“It’s great to see everyone’s hard work and late nights pay
off.”
“Who was the die hard this year?” asked Tau Kappa Epsilon alumni, Chris Petersen, before the football game while discussing Lawn Displays. He began to explain; there was always one guy in every pairing who made lawn display his mission and gave up all his time for attempts at victory.
Hands pointed at Jon Dimitriou.
Dimitriou, a lawn display co-chair for Tau Kappa Epsilon and the winning Lawn Display for Homecoming 101, estimates he put 200-300 hours of work in during the weeks leading up to lawn display sleeping 15-20 hours the week of homecoming.
Lawn Display, a long-standing tradition at Iowa State is one of the more extreme of traditions among the Greek Community. Pairings build elaborate sets that require engineering, technology, painting and eventually skits and acting.
Lawn Displays and ExCYtement in the Streets, much like the painted performers of Yell Like Hell, are a long-awaited tradition that packs crowds into Greekland.
“[Lawn Display] is my favorite part of Homecoming, but I think it is more of the overall aspect of it and what it represents compared to the overall Lawn Display itself. I think the total traditions thing kind of brings it all together and that’s what I like about Lawn Displays,” Dimitriou said. “It’s the fact that it has been a tradition for like 100 years and the fact that it means so much to a lot of people. It brings the community together, brings the community out- not just the Greek community but you have a lot of the citizens of Ames that come out and watch it.”
Jon Dimitriou said that often when at the store for supplies people would recognize that they were shopping for homecoming stuff and would share their memories of past Displays with them. For many alumni and people in Ames, Lawn Displays are a special homecoming memory.
Lawn Displays have offered alumni and students like Dimitriou the opportunity to gain experience that wouldn’t be feasible for most people.
“It’s right on par with what I want to do with my career, as far as like designing buildings, I really like the aspect of building stuff as well. Growing up I’ve always been kind of like a tinkerer with building things so it kind of just fits into my personality and what I like to do and what I want to do with my future,” Dimitriou said.
All the hard work paid off for their pairing and the other four pairing as the Greek Community had five fantastic Lawn Displays.
A special congratulations to first place Display winners:Tau Kappa Epsilon, Alpha Gamma Delta, Lambda Chi Alpha. Second place: Alpha Gamma Rho, Delta Delta Delta, Kappa Sigma. Third place: Phi Delta Theta, Alpha Delta Pi, and Phi Kappa Theta for their amazing Lawn Display finished products.
“You spend so much time putting into it, designing and building it and everything and it’s kind of like the last moment when you are all finished, that last tie moment you just kind of sit back and are like ‘yeah, yeah we did that,’” Jon said.
LETTERS 16
YELLlike Hell
LETTERSHOMECOMING 2013
a publication of the Greek Relations Executive Council