The main event of the 2012 Panhellenic Pride Week, “Pretty in Panhellenic”, took place Thursday night at the HUB and left girls leaving with the knowledge of their philantrophic efforts.
For the first time ever, the Penn State Panhellenic Council decided to incorporate a philantrophic cause to the event. By designing and selling tank tops to benefit the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape, the PHC was able to raise $4,136 dollars to donate to the organization.
The PCAR is an organization that works at the state and national level to prevent sexual violence, according to its website.
PHC Executive Vice President Annie Black said Panhellenic Pride week started a couple years ago for the purpose of uniting the 22 chapters at Penn State. However, the idea to sell the shirts for PCAR came about to cover a topic that the PHC had yet to discuss.
“We decided that we haven’t done anything yet to talk about sexual violence, and this was a good way to raise money and increase awareness for PCAR,” Black (senior-communication sciences and disorders) said.
Along with the donations, the fundraising efforts done by the PHC demonstrated what Vice President for Communications Amanda Cillo said being a part of Greek life is all about.
“Giving back and being philantrophic is a huge part about being Greek,” Cillo (senior-public relations) said.
PHC President Julianne Robbins said the shirts have a new color, a new spin and recognized all of the different chapters. The tank tops were sold for $15 each, and members of each chapter were encouraged to buy one and participate in the cause.
Upon arrival to the event, girls were encouraged to sit and interact with their own chapter, as well as others. The girls were served bakery goods and received free gift baskets from Penn State representatives from Procter and Gamble.
“We (Procter and Gamble) partnered with PHC to push our products,” Patrick Bunting (senior-telecommunications) said. “We’re the largest consumer goods company in the country and promote product brands such as Herbal Essences and Venus.”
After the girls were all settled, Black presented to them a slide show presentation demonstrating PHC’s projects throughout the past year and what they have done up to this point.
Some of the events recognized included last year’s Greek Sing, the recruitment of 2,300 members, the participation in various blood drives, and the $3 million Greeks raised out of last year’s $10.6 million dollars THON total.
Robbins said her favorite part of this week was seeing all of the chapters come together and make a difference in the world to such a good cause.
“The greatest part for me was seeing how Greeks can make an impact, especially with everything that has happened last year,” Robbins said. “With our efforts, we were able to take a stance and maybe change someone’s life.”
