As a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon and the Washburn Greek community I was excited to see an editorial about Homecoming and Greek Life. Upon reading the article my excitement turned into shock and disgust. Every year Greeks do take part in a competition to be crowned Homecoming champions, and yes, we all want to win. Having said that, what the Review failed to mention is that we compete in fun and understand the whole purpose of Homecoming is to be excited and to promote the Washburn traditions.

It’s this same competition that brings about a vast majority of the participation in Homecoming activities. Take a second to imagine what Homecoming would be like without the Greeks. First, the Ichabod race would only have a few teams participating. Second, Yell Like Hell would be non-existent without the presence of the productions that the chapters put on. Third, during the Homecoming parade you would have no large floats, and let’s be honest, people come to parades to see those large, highly decorated floats. Lastly, the Homecoming king and queen competition would not be the same. Historically, the majority of the 10 finalists are Greek affiliated.

I do understand that as Greeks we carry a certain responsibility to capture the true spirit of Homecoming. I would challenge all Greeks reading this to bring your chapter and the community up to a higher level. When you are in the heat of the competition it is easy to get upset and angry if you don’t win. Instead of doing that I would love to see us all accept the gut check, pick our heads back up and go congratulate those chapters that did win. After all, as long as you are happy with your own performance you have nothing about which to be ashamed or mad.

So before an article is written claiming that Homecoming is Greek-centered, the writers should take time to understand that it is Greeks who make Homecoming what it is. Every year I do love seeing other organizations catch the Homecoming fever and participate in the activities. I happen to be involved with a non-Greek organization who participates in Homecoming and I love it. The amount of banners, top hats and parade involvement is inspiring and goes to show that all student organizations love Washburn. My personal favorite is the Washburn Black Student Union performing at Yell Like Hell; they really do steal the show every year. I would encourage all of those organizations who don’t take part to do so. I would also challenge the writers of this article and anyone else who shares their views to look in the Greek community. I mean really look into it, don’t just take a passing glance and believe what you read and see in the media. After all, people who have their own opinions and views and want to be involved at Washburn are the exact type of people we want in the Greek community.

Nathan Ansley Washburn student