While it has since expanded through the entire university, THON had its humble beginnings in 1973 as a fundraiser for the IFC and PHC. Though THON recently took references to the Greek organizations out of the THON mission statement, members of fraternities and sororities will be quick to remind you of the immense impact their organizations had in building THON into what it is now, and the impact they still have in THON. Greek orgs still typically finish among the top organizations in terms of fundraising, so THON took an hour to honor all the fraternities and sororities with Greek Hour.

The hour started with a quick video featuring numerous members of Greek life, and why they participate, and volunteer in THON. Next, the leaders of the various Greek organizations on campus were introduced, and spoke about the Greek involvement in THON. Right after, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Tau Delta, and Zeta Tau Alpha performed songs from “Grease,” the skits that won them Greek Sing back in December.

After the performance, Brady Lucas, a current dancer and Four Diamonds child Brady Lucas spoke about his experience with Greek life both as a Four Diamonds child and now as a member of Phi Kappa Sigma, the organization that adopted him in 2011. “All Four Diamonds families,” he said, “Make sure your kids come to Penn State, this is the best university in the world, this is the best event it the world. I would not be here today without everyone, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today, thank you for giving me the opportunity to live.”

Next, THON chairs from various fraternities and sororities performed dance to songs from different decades to signify THON through the years. They danced to classics like Dancing Queen, and Jesse’s Girl, as well as newer songs like I got a Feeling, and 22.

The hour ended with executives of Greek Councils announcing the theme for this year’s Greek Week. The selected theme will be “Living in the 90s,” paying homage to the decade that almost every undergraduate was born in.