There are a few things in this world that I without a doubt love.

1. God

2. Family

3. The Dallas Cowboys

4. Spartan Basketball

5. Sorority philanthropy events

Now you might be asking “where does my own fraternity end up on that list”, but I consider “the boys” to be family and wouldn’t be anywhere without them.

That being said, for sake of argument, let's skip down to #5. Fellas let’s face it, sorority girls just do it better! They have 30 girls design the shirt, 15 girls to select the optimal date, 3 girls apiece to coach for all 18 teams, and 20 more girls to promote the event. Oh and they have one girl at the top barking orders like Tom Izzo in the second half of a B1G TEN basketball game. We don’t really know how they do it, but they organize 150 girls to show up and have it together. I’d say, “act like they have it together”, but those girls seriously do for that one day. Now I’m not saying Lambda’s Junior 500 week or Sigma Chi’s Fight Night aren’t well orchestrated events, but collectively the ladies got it going on. So bless their hearts because they have been putting some phenomenal fun together for excellent causes.

To kick us off this semester we had Kappa Alpha Theta’s “KAT at Bat” softball tournament. What better way to lead off the fall than playing some ball for CASA. CASA stands for Court Appointed Special Advocates with its mission to provide a representative from the foundation to children in unfortunate situations to make sure that children are taken care of with food, clothing and plenty of toys during legal processes.  A child’s game for children? Game on said Sigma Chi who took home first place from Patriarch Park.

Next up we had a Sunday that provided us again with some awareness, amusement and competition. Hopefully you’ve read my colleague Shireen Mohyi’s article about Alpha Chi Omega’s “Walk A Mile In Her Shoes”. If you haven’t, stop right now and check it out here http://theodysseyonline.com/msu/what-like-walk-mile-her-shoes/70048. Now that you have, you already know how incredibly important it is to shed light on their cause of promoting sexual assault prevention awareness. Spotlighting awareness, male Greek community members walk around the neighborhood in high heels with everyone getting a wholesome laugh as us men struggle walking with them on. You better believe there is a new sense of respect for all the ladies wearing heels after wearing those sizable stilettos for only a second.

On that same Sunday only a few hours later we had Gamma Phi Beta’s “GPhi Joe” competition. With a slight bias I must admit this has been my favorite event of the semester so far. It was a solid mixture of athleticism, coordination, and my favorite element of the game, trash talking. Nothing better than competing with the boys and letting your opponent know what’s up.
Last week my colleague Kelsey Krieger reported on the event and you should all give that a read too. She followed it in some substantial detail so I advise you to continue your procrastination of you work and click here http://theodysseyonline.com/msu/bro-g-phi-joe/70068. At the end of the event Sigma Phi Epsilon was left hoisting the trophy, but don’t worry my fellow Greeks the competitions have yet to cease. 

This week brought Sigma Kappa’s “Sigmalympics” back for another year and again it was a success for the Sigma Kappa Foundation as their proceeds support Alzheimer’s disease research. The field day styled event brings some of the contests like GPhi Joe’s aforementioned event, but brings its own flare to the experience like balloon popping. I cannot deny how much I love donating to a cause that hits home for me, and acting a fool with my brothers. If you’re a fraternity man, ya gotta find it enjoyable and I don’t know what else you’d rather be doing on a Sunday.
*Note: Sorry for comparing the events that you ladies hosted. I need a date for your semi-formal and riverboat respectively and don’t want to be on your bad sides. Please forgive me*

Turning back the clock and going back a week; Zeta Tau Alpha had their endeavors with Breast Cancer research and awareness. Highlighted by their Best Chest competition and 8^th annual 5K, the ladies of Zeta again produced yet another successful week of awareness and fundraising. If you told me not a single girl came up to you giving you a pink ribbon on Farm Lane during last week I wouldn’t believe you. I mean that in the utmost respect as those girls manufactured a sea of pink that week. One aspect that was missing from this years Zeta Tau Alpha “Think Pink” week was their yogurt eating contest. It was personally disheartening to not see the return of the eating competition, but it’s alright, alright, alright, because the ladies of Kappa Kappa Gamma have one of their own!

The 2^nd annual "Very Hungry Kappapillar", hosted by Kappa Kappa Gamma, is a philanthropic pie-eating contest. Fraternities of five have to finish their slice of pie in the fastest time and of course you can’t use your hands. These teams battle it out as proceeds go to Reading is Fundamental, the national philanthropy of Kappa. So get those guys in your chapter that eat two burritos from Pancheros and still ask “are you going to finish that?” to come out this Wednesday, October 22^nd at six o’clock on Kappa’s front lawn. But before you do that this Wednesday, I have dinner plans for you this Tuesday night. 

This Tuesday night the 21^st, on a scale of one to America, how free are you? You better have answered Chevy truck drivin’, tailgate down, blastin’ Toby Keith free because Pi Beta Phi is hosting their annual spaghetti dinner. From six o’clock to eight thirty for fewer than ten dollars you can get all the homemade spaghetti, garlic bread and dessert you can handle. So eat at Pi Phi while donating to “Read. Lead. Achieve.”, an organization focusing on battling literacy and promoting the importance of education to children. Should be fun, oughta come by. You’d be a lot cooler if you did…

If anybody can recognize that quote, find me at the dinner! I promise to the first person that comes up to me, I’ll buy you your meal. And while I’m at it, I’ll make another promise. I promise that Delta Gamma’s Anchor Week is going to be rad.

Delta Gamma kicks off their week on October 28 with “Milk & Cookies” at their house. What’s more American than that? Well… possibly a few things… but milk and cookies are high up on that list! Then, turn around on Thursday and participate in “Spot a DG”. All you have to do for your fraternity to earn points towards Anchor Week is take a picture with the girls of Delta Gamma that will be walking around campus. With that you’ll be inching closer to winning it all, but not before your team competes at AnchorSplash on Sunday, November 2!
For DG’s national philanthropy, Service for Sight, teams participate in various swimming routines and races. So leave the floaties at home because it's about to get wet and wild. What does that even mean? No one knows what it means, it's just prerogative, gets the people going!

Luckily for you if you’re not much of a swimmer you can check out Alpha Omicron Pi’s Catwalk for a Cure event on that same Sunday, the 2nd. The fashion show spotlights the Arthritis Foundation with ladies from AOII and various fraternity men as they model down the runway! The men are responsible for their own clothes as the ladies wear dresses from Rent the Runway. I personally attended last year and I advise for you to go as well. With free food and drink provided, there are also some dandy raffle prices to take home. Don’t miss out on an event you might not be aware of!

Finally, if you haven’t made it out to any event this fall semester do yourself a favor and participate in Alpha Phi’s “Capture-A-Phi”. A classic play on words for the classic childhood game of capture the flag. Teams of six to ten face off on November 9 in a tournament organized for the Alpha Phi foundation that supports women’s heart health. Registration ends soon for this event so get your teams ready to square off at Valley Court Park!

There has been so much that has gone on this semester and so many events left. With all those events you probably noticed a few things throughout this article. I didn’t include any “dine and donates” in here. I didn’t want to include so-and-so’s Noodles & Co. fundraiser, and not because it’s not important, but because I wanted to highlight the unparalleled work that these ladies put in to making these events fun and functional. Don’t get me wrong, every dollar counts for a cause. However we’re fortunate at Michigan State to wake up on a Sunday, put some heels on for Alpha Chi Omega and then turn around and put war paint on for GPhi Joe.

Also, I didn’t want to mention amounts of money that were raised by these Greek organizations. I believe that not only is the money important, but the service and awareness is immeasurable. I agree, it's amazing how much money was raised by everyone, but its also important that we gain knowledge about special needs and sensational causes that impact us in our ever day life.

And to anyone, if I missed your event or didn’t exactly explain it to its exact capacity, blame it on the head not the heart. I love these sorority events for so many reasons! I believe we just need a little bit of help and encouragement to make this world a better place. If that means donating a few dollars and time to a pie-eating contest then count me in! I can hang my hat on knowing in college that my free time consisted of attending as many events as I could to help out as many people I could. It’s truly a gift and privilege to be out here at these events every week, and what’s a gift if you can’t share it?