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The Daily OrangeMotivation convocation
To improve on last year's act, Greek Week wraps up with award-winning speaker
By Christine Ann Robertson
Posted: 9/12/07, 11:21 PM EST Section: News
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In a presentation titled "Making Greek Great," Lori Hart Ebert will outline leadership and reaching the potential of each fraternity and sorority, she said in an interview.
The convocation is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday in the Schine Student Center's Goldstein Auditorium. Eighty percent of each greek house on campus must attend.
Ebert, 37, of Atlanta, Ga., is the director of alcohol education for Pi Kappa Phi sorority, and is a legacy of the Auburn University chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi sorority.
She said her personal experience in the greek system makes her "spiel" less like a lecture and more motivating, she hopes.
"I want people to walk out saying, 'I'm the person that's going to change that. I'm the person who's going to make it better,'" Ebert said.
She is one of several touring speakers highlighted on campuspeak.com and talks on topics ranging from alcohol education to gender relationships. She won best female performer and best campus speaker awards this year from "Campus Activities Magazine."
"She is able to really connect with college students in a fun and interesting way," said Matt Abdifar, an organizer for the event and the Interfraternity Council's vice president for external affairs. "We are both excited and honored to have her as our keynote speaker this year."
Abdifar saw Ebert speak at the National Greek Leadership Association Conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., last March.
After what many called a dull performance by Willie Jolley last year, greek students at SU seem intrigued by what Ebert will bring.
"I think it's great that it's someone younger that we can relate to better," said Alpha Phi sophomore Meaghan Reilly. "A lot of times speakers come and they're older, and it's hard to identify with the same things."
Others are interested in relating Ebert's own experiences to theirs.
"I might want to see how her greek life compares to ours to see if she'll talk about how her 'real' experience was in college - not just the normal boring speech," said Delta Kappa Epsilon junior Will Horn.
Juanita Williams, interim director of fraternity and sorority affairs and associate dean of students, is pleased with the choice for speaker.
"I am so thrilled to know Dr. Ebert's message will now be heard by the entire greek community," she said. "I am confident it will promote increased collaborative programming and support among our greeks, creating a stronger and more inviting system."
Ebert said she, like many college students, had no idea what career path she wanted to pursue. It wasn't until she began to make changes within her chapter that she began down the path of motivational speaking.
"I decided to change things that weren't positive in my chapter. There were so many things that could be fixed," Ebert said. "If I had not worked at it, I would not have found my calling. I've got one gift and my roll and my story helped lead me to what came naturally for me."
Leading the pack
Greek Week judges pick winners for showcase, 'Yell Like Hell' events
The Greek Week games continued Sunday evening as cheers erupted throughout Goldstein Auditorium. The greek community gathered to compete in two of the week's events: the Greek Showcase and "Yell Like Hell."
All five of Syracuse University's greek councils were represented. The Latino, National Panhellenic and multicultural councils were paired for the competition, before being separated into men's and women's brackets, said Amanda Giger, one of the event's organizers.
Giger said she couldn't release the official scores for the Greek Week competitions because they weren't tallied. Chapters won't know who won the games until Friday's convocation.
The Greek Showcase
There were four overall winners at the showcase; one for each council.
Delta Delta Delta won first place among the Panhellenic sororities by singing and dancing to Christina Aguilera's, "Ain't No Other Man."
Interfraternity Council winner Acacia got the crowd on its feet and waving cell phones in the air by enthusiastically lip syncing the boy band classic "All or Nothing" by O-Town.
Phi Beta Sigma took first place among the male multicultural councils with two acts: One brother delivered a romantic, alternative poem, and then he was joined by his fellow brothers to perform a 'stroll' in which performers move across the stage in a step-like dance.
Lastly, Omega Phi Beta took first place among the female multicultural councils with a stroll of its own.
Yell Like Hell
The lip-syncing and strolling was followed by the spirited "Yell Like Hell" competition.
Brothers and sisters stood on chairs, screamed their individual chants, held up decorative signs and banged on pots and pans as their respective house's names were read aloud.
They did just about anything to convince the Greek Week judges that their respective houses had the most pride and deserved to be named one of four eventual Greek Week champions.
Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Phi Lambda won the event. No fourth winner was named.
Bingo
Monday night's bingo, a Greek Week event that counts for how many showed, rather than who actually won, was among the biggest successes of the week so far, Giger said.
More than 300 people participated - about 60 people more than the Schine Underground's capacity. They raised a total of $530 for the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse, Giger said.
"Bingo was a huge success. The turnout was much larger than expected," she said.
- Lia Calabro, Contributing Writer
Greek Week judges pick winners for showcase, 'Yell Like Hell' events
The Greek Week games continued Sunday evening as cheers erupted throughout Goldstein Auditorium. The greek community gathered to compete in two of the week's events: the Greek Showcase and "Yell Like Hell."
All five of Syracuse University's greek councils were represented. The Latino, National Panhellenic and multicultural councils were paired for the competition, before being separated into men's and women's brackets, said Amanda Giger, one of the event's organizers.
Giger said she couldn't release the official scores for the Greek Week competitions because they weren't tallied. Chapters won't know who won the games until Friday's convocation.
The Greek Showcase
There were four overall winners at the showcase; one for each council.
Delta Delta Delta won first place among the Panhellenic sororities by singing and dancing to Christina Aguilera's, "Ain't No Other Man."
Interfraternity Council winner Acacia got the crowd on its feet and waving cell phones in the air by enthusiastically lip syncing the boy band classic "All or Nothing" by O-Town.
Phi Beta Sigma took first place among the male multicultural councils with two acts: One brother delivered a romantic, alternative poem, and then he was joined by his fellow brothers to perform a 'stroll' in which performers move across the stage in a step-like dance.
Lastly, Omega Phi Beta took first place among the female multicultural councils with a stroll of its own.
Yell Like Hell
The lip-syncing and strolling was followed by the spirited "Yell Like Hell" competition.
Brothers and sisters stood on chairs, screamed their individual chants, held up decorative signs and banged on pots and pans as their respective house's names were read aloud.
They did just about anything to convince the Greek Week judges that their respective houses had the most pride and deserved to be named one of four eventual Greek Week champions.
Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Phi Epsilon and Kappa Phi Lambda won the event. No fourth winner was named.
Bingo
Monday night's bingo, a Greek Week event that counts for how many showed, rather than who actually won, was among the biggest successes of the week so far, Giger said.
More than 300 people participated - about 60 people more than the Schine Underground's capacity. They raised a total of $530 for the Boys and Girls Club of Syracuse, Giger said.
"Bingo was a huge success. The turnout was much larger than expected," she said.
- Lia Calabro, Contributing Writer
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