In the midst of approaching finals, Kent State Fraternity and Sorority Life put on its annual Fraternity and Sorority Life Week aiming to promote relaxation and Greek life unity.

The week lasted from April 24 to 28 and consisted of five events that involved chapters from Panhellenic Council, Integrated Greek Council and Interfraternity Council.

The events that took place consisted of a chapter house decorating contest, FSL Trivia, Study-A-Thon, Great Greek Bake Off and FSL Food Drive.

FSL Trivia took place on Instagram, with all members of Greek life participating in questions relating to fraternity and sorority life. Study-A-Thon was held in two rooms in the Student Center and included free food for participants.

The Great Greek Bake Off consisted of a baking competition between Greek life members and was held at the Phi Delta Theta chapter house.

Allison Frank, member of the Phi Mu sorority and sophomore digital media production major, participated in the Study-A-Thon and FSL Trivia with her sisters.

“This week has been a fun time,” Frank said. “I was able to see some girls in our chapter decorating for the chapter banner contest and we won first place in that.”

As far as Phi Mu’s overall participation in the week, Frank credits her sisters with creating hype around events to increase attendance.

“Our chapter has had so much fun with FSL week because we’re interacting with other chapters,” Frank said. “I love that we can all get along and that every chapter has a place during FSL week.”

Frank also said that FSL Week emphasized the diversity of Greek Life at Kent State.

“I’ve made friends with other chapters, which has helped me learn about their values and philanthropies,” Frank said. “This has helped me learn how I can make my chapter better, as well as seeing where people’s passions come from.”

To motivate chapter participation, incentives and rewards were given to the chapters who had the most involvement and attendance at events.

“Phi Delta Theta received $100 toward their philanthropy for winning the banner decorating contest,” Interfraternity Council President Seth Young said. “We also gave out $15 gift cards for people who won our trivia event and had raffle baskets and food during our Study-A-Thon.”

In comparison to last year’s FSL Week, the junior neuroscience and pre-med major credited the programming and planning process with an increase in participation.

“We had over 100 people participate in our trivia and had both rooms full during our Study-A-Thon event,” Young said.

In addition, Young mentioned how the FSL Food Drive brought Greek Life members together to make a difference in the community.

“We recognize that peers have unequal access to food,” Young said. “As a community, this is one way that we could make a positive impact on others that live in nearby areas.”

Overall, Young said he is hopeful future FSL Week’s will continue to grow a sustainable, positive Greek life at Kent State.

“We want to continue to build our community and show up for each other,” Young said. “We also want everyone to know what faces they’re sponsoring in their philanthropies to continue building relationships.”

Blake Serrano is a reporter. Contact him at [email protected].