Greek Week 2013

This past week, Baker hosted the annual Greek Week for the greek population on campus. Teamed up with the ladies of Alpha Chi Omega, the chapter attended numerous Las Vegas themed events. The events included Mr. BU, Casino Night, Chalk the Walk, and Sin City Games. Two of the chapters members were nominated for the Mr. BU gentleman's pageant: Brother Mike Stevenson nominated by Kappa Sigma and Riley Hoffman nominated by the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Both brothers enjoyed the opportunity to get up on stage and make fools of themselves for a laugh. Casino Night consisted of different Vegas style casino games in which students could win fake money towards prizes and a raffle. The team of Kappa Sigma/Alpha Chi Omega took second place overall in the games. The final weekday events were Chalk the Walk and Sin City Games. Chalk the Walk was a combined effort with Alpha Chi to decorate a section of the sidewalk by the Grape Arbor. The artistic talent in both houses paid off when the team placed first in the event. Later that night, Sin City Games were held in the gym. The games included a relay race, dodge ball, musical chairs, and tug-o-war. The Kappa Sig/Alpha Chi team fell short in the night taking third overall.

On Sunday night, Greek Week came to an end with the Greek Awards Ceremony. The Executive Committee applied for all twelve of the awards offered. These award covered all aspects of the greek life experience. The Beta Tau chapter won the Outstanding Recruitment and Retention Award for their unmeasurable effort in the Fall 2012 Rush. Kappa Sigma also won the award for Outstanding Community Service and Philanthropy because of their events to raise food and money for the local Baldwin City Food Pantry as well as their monetary contribution to Kappa Sigma’s national Military Heroes Campaign. In addition to those awards, the chapter won the Outstanding Public Relations Award for the effort put into the most recent Beta Taulker publication as well as the use of kappasigbu.com. 

The final two awards the chapter won are the two in which we are the most proud to have received. The first was not an award given to the chapter but to the Campus Advisor and Beta Tau Alumnus, Ira DeSpain. The passion and dedication that he puts into this chapter cannot be summed up in a letter, but a glimpse of what he does for the chapter can be read in the nomination letter entitled Ira DeSpain: Campus Advisor of the Year. The second of these prestigious awards was given to the chapter that demonstrated excellence in 6 categories, encompassing all aspects of Greek life and a positive fraternity experience. As some may know, the chapter has struggled in several ways over the past years. Today, I am very proud to report that the Beta Tau chapter of Kappa Sigma has been awarded the Five Star Chapter Award of Baker University. This award is the most prestigious recognition that a greek house can achieve on Baker’s campus.

The Five Star Chapter Award is not taken lightly nor can it be attributed to any one person’s efforts. The chapter would like to thank the current Grand Master, Andy Kelley, for the leadership that he and his team on the Executive Committee have demonstrated over the past few months to achieve this honor. The members of Exec would like to extend their thanks to the entire active chapter who’s perseverance is the reason for winning this award. Finally, the entire undergraduate chapter gives their appreciation to all Baker University faculty, Beta Tau alumni, and all Kappa Sigmas who helped make this award possible in some way. To the faculty at Baker University, you are the motivation behind everything we strive for on this campus, and to the alumni of Beta Tau and to Kappa Sigma as a whole, the love of this fraternity is bestowed in us all. A.E.K.Δ.B.