As you were wandering around campus this past week, you may have noticed chalk writing all over the sidewalks talking about an event called Mock Rock. If you are not familiar with this event, I encourage you to read on to hear about Greek Pride, Philanthropy and how our sorority worked to unite campus for a great cause! This last Friday evening Gill Coliseum was filled with members of Greek Life, the Oregon State campus, and of the Corvallis community all in an attempt to raise money for Kappa Delta Sorority’s philanthropy Mock Rock. Last year they raised was about $35,000 dollars, and this year’s total shot up to $41,968.50!
Mock Rock is a week-long event with check-ins, activities, and at the end of the week, dance performances from the participating houses. 80% of the money raised during the week stays right here in Corvallis to support the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, while the other 20% is donated to the national organization Prevent Child Abuse America. This was the first year Kappa Delta had Mock Rock at Gill, having sold out LaSells auditorium in 8 minutes last year. However, these are just the little details. To understand what Mock Rock is really about you have to look a little deeper and talk to the girls who put the event on, as well as the wonderful supporters of Mock Rock in the Greek community.
When you talk to the women of Kappa Delta about Mock Rock you instantly hear about how much they love their house and how proud they are of what they have accomplished. But what they also tell you is how grateful they are. Junior Chelsea Rowell, one of this year’s Mock Rock chairs, along with senior Tori Lynch, says it best when talking about the Greek community, “We obviously would not be able to pull off an event like that without their support and spirit throughout the week. Each year I am shocked that we are able to raise that amount of money in one week’s time, but somehow we do it, thanks to friends, family, and our Greek community”. Tori also mentions the loyalty of the Greek Community, “My favorite part is seeing different houses each year commit themselves to Mock Rock. As a house, they choose to support our philanthropy and they work together in all of Mock Rock’s activities in the hopes of winning. It is extremely encouraging to see other chapters on campus familiarize themselves with our values and our philanthropy”.
Personally being a part of Mock Rock is one of the best feelings in the world. You get invested in each houses’ performance and you want to see everyone do well. The best part is at the very end of the night when we announce how much money everyone was able to raise together, and everyone in attendance is so excited, you feel this huge wave of energy because we all did something great together as a community. When the awards are announced for the sorority and fraternity chapters that won Mock Rock it’s clear that this event means a lot to everyone involved. I think we all realize that it’s all about the support we are giving to the victims of domestic violence, and the support that we are able to give to the Corvallis community; a community that supports us and Oregon State University. As Tori mentioned earlier, a lot of Mock Rock is based on Kappa Delta’s values, represented by our open motto Ta Kala Diokomen, meaning “Let us strive for that which is honorable, beautiful, and highest”. I think the whole Greek community represented this motto perfectly with their effort and dedication last Friday night. So, even if you were not in attendance, or had never heard of Mock Rock before, I hope you take away a little bit of happiness from this post knowing that some good was done on the Oregon State campus last Friday night.
Last but not least, here is a picture of representatives from Delta Gamma and Phi Kappa Psi collecting their first place awards.