On Saturday, the 17th annual Loop in Motion parade will be held in University City. It will be the first parade to feature a float made by members of the Washington University Greek community.
Greeks in Motion is a series of events that celebrate the Greek community. The festivities began on Wednesday with Grand Chapter, a motivational lecture for all Greeks, and continued yesterday with the Greek community sponsoring CPC happy hour at the Gargoyle. The week continues today with a Greek BBQ and a float construction on Frat row for tomorrow’s parade.
The parade will be the culmination of Greeks in Motion, which was formerly known as Greek Week. In years past, Greek Week has included Olympic-type competitions. But this year, the competitions will be friendlier, featuring contests challenging people to raise or donate the most money.
The Greek community will team up to build one float with a children’s theme. One representative from each chapter will ride on the float in the parade, each wearing his or her Greek letters. The float itself will be themed with children’s artwork to reflect the cause in which the money is going.
“We are hoping to build a long term relationship with the [U City and Clayton] community” said Nicole Soussan, the president of the Pan-Hellenic Association.
Following the parade in the morning, the Greeks will set up booths with games and activities geared towards children, working in teams of two fraternities and one sorority.
The money raised during the parade will help to benefit University City East, an organization that runs a summer program for underprivileged kids, and has struggled recently to find funding.
“Because we are so huge, we thought we could throw support and resources towards them,” said Eli Zimmerman, president of the Interfraternity Council. “[The Greeks] really do incredible work.”
Zimmerman is hoping that “the Greek community is very much a united one, united in our ties to each other and also united in our desire to improve the broader world in which we live in.”
He encouraged non-Greeks to come out and enjoy the festivities. “Everyone is invited to the parade because it will be fun and a great way to have a positive impact on the lives of the children of U City,” he said.
The events of Greek Week usually encompass about 1,500 members of the student body, and Greeks are hoping to draw a larger number this year. “This is the first year that it’s been done in this format, usually it’s just Greek Week. [We’re] trying it out this year, to not just isolate the Greek community” said Ana Bailey, a junior in Kappa Kappa Gamma.
“We are having a parade to hopefully draw a lot of the community around U City and Clayton, as well as Wash. U. students.”