One of the events in this year's Greek Week is among the best of its kind in the nation.
Fraternities and sororities donated more than $100,000 to the American Cancer Society through Relay for Life. In the event, greeks walked laps under a tent on Munn Field for 20 hours.
With $101,281, MSU greeks ranked third behind relays at New York University and Syracuse University, which raised $147,000 and $106,000, respectively.
"I could never have imagined that the greek community at MSU could surpass universities as a whole for such a worthy cause," Greek Week Director Julee Albers said.
Greek Week Assistant Director of Technology Erik Pedersen said more than half of the donations received, totaling $57,438, came from online sources. This was the first year online donations were available.
This is the second year Relay for Life was part of Greek Week. Last year, the event raised about $75,000. Both years, Greek Week Director of Philanthropy Nick Whitehurst coordinated the relay. He said the fund-raising goal was set higher this year because of last year's results.
"We just looked at last year. People work well if you set a really high expectation," he said. "Raising money means a lot to all of us. These organizations see a win while doing some good, too."
Among the 12 teams that competed, the team of Kappa Delta sorority, Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity and Psi Upsilon fraternity raised the most money.
Sigma Chi fraternity member Brian Damman said he hopes achieving the high fund-raising level helps shake off the greek system's sometimes bad reputation.
"It's great that even though we have such a bad stigma, we're out there doing something for good," he said, adding that Greek Week events should be open to everyone on campus, not just greeks.
Chris Creguer, philanthropy chair for FarmHouse Fraternity, agreed.
"All (fraternities and sororities) are based on service events. They do different philanthropies that don't always get the attention they deserve," he said.
