Sophomore Aaren Sirak of Lambda Chi Alpha (Lambda Chi) and senior Lauren Rodriguez of Alpha Delta Pi (ADPi) were crowned Greek God and Goddess at the annual Greek Week pageant on Tuesday.
Both titles were swept by Team Atlantis, which also includes the fraternity Pi Kappa Phi. The teams, each consisting of 3-4 greek organizations from all four Greek councils, were assigned names based on this year’s Greek Week theme, “War of the Worlds.”
The pageant consisted of a talent portion and an interview portion. For her talent, Rodriguez performed Adele’s “One and Only.” Rodriguez, who has served as an officer on the Panhellenic Council, has also been heavily involved in the Homecoming Executive Committee, Student Government, Camp Kesem and P100. In her interview portion, Rodriguez described herself to the judges as being extremely outgoing. She said that being crowned was unexpected and exciting.
“I didn’t think it was going to happen. In sophomore year, I was helping out with O-Cheer, and I promised myself I would run [for Goddess] someday,” Rodriguez said in an interview with the Hurricane. “Now as a senior, I was like, I’m just going to do it, YOLO.”
Rodriguez stood out to audience members well before the results were announced.
“Is it okay if I’m biased?” joked sophomore Alpha Sig brother Anthony Ferreira when asked about his thoughts on the prospective winners. “I’m Team Fantasy so I’m hoping both Greg and Jordan win. But the ADPi girl did really well too.”
Rodriguez shared the stage with Sirak, who left a lasting impression on the audience with a daring stunt, leaping over seven of his fraternity brothers on the Lakeside Patio stage in an impressive display of parkour. Interestingly enough, fellow finalist and Alpha Sigma Phi brother Greg Blachly also did a similar act, jumping over five brothers.
“When I was in elementary school, I used to climb and jump all over the playground, so that’s what got me into it,” Sirak said. “There is an American Ninja Warrior gym in Atlanta, where I’m from, that I used to go train at at least once a week.”
However confident Sirak – or Blachly – were, the acts seemed dangerous enough to capture the audience’s attention.
“Everyone was great, there was so much talent,” said senior Chi Omega sister Sara Saveanu. “But I wasn’t expecting all the parkour.”
Sirak, only in his second year of involvement in Greek life, called the feeling of coming through and winning the Greek God title as “amazing” in an interview with the Hurricane. Sirak said that he inadvertently joined the tail end of the fraternity recruitment process in his freshman spring but ended up joining the chapter, where he now holds many leadership positions, including that of risk manager and basketball team captain.
“I didn’t intend to get involved in Greek Life,” the mechanical engineering student said during the interview portion. “I didn’t think it was for me, but now I’m really involved and it takes up a lot of my time, in a good way. It keeps me busy.”
Sirak is also a Foote Fellow and is involved in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Club, Ultimate Frisbee and volunteering in the Gifford Arboretum.
Greek Week events continue until Friday in an effort to raise money for United Cerebral Palsy. Around $30,000 is raised for the nonprofit each year.
Greek Week teams include chapters from all four Greek councils, the Interfraternity Council (IFC), Panhellenic Council (Panhel), National Pan-hellenic Council and Multicultural Greek Council. Each of the finalists in this year’s God and Goddess competition were members of the IFC and Panhel.
Other finalists:
- Demigod: Joseph Bonner, Beta Theta Pi fraternity, Team Ancient Greece
- Demigoddess: Allison Cawthon, Chi Omega sorority, Team Jurassic
- Greg Blachly, Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, Team Fantasy
- Jordan Hurwitz, Delta Delta Delta sorority, Team Fantasy
- Matthew Pietras, Kappa Sigma fraternity, Team Jurassic