It’s ‘Not So Greek’ to me

     Within GCSU’s student body, formals are usually reserved for the select few involved in Greek Life.  That privilege changed four years ago after a conversation in the kitchen of 331 W. Montgomery St.
    During Fall of 2003, Cliff Barnett, Benjamin Lavender, Drew Ashton and Kevin Lamb had a dream.  They agreed that it would be great to bring all of their friends together and have a formal for them. The first time, 150 GCSU students showed up.  Last Friday night, over 400 people danced the night away to celebrate what has quickly become a GCSU tradition.
    Since 2003, the white house on the corner of West Montgomery and Clarke streets has been the location of the “Not So Greek Formal.”  And the word is out. College students from UGA, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech and various other locations crashed the party.
    “We saw some of our friends do this in Athens and thought it would be a great thing to bring back to Milledgeville,” said Barnett, now a graduate student at GCSU. “We started to get the word out and we had a lot more people show up than we thought [in 2003].”     Ashton and Lamb graduated from GCSU last Spring, leaving behind Barnett and Lavender (now both graduate students) to keep the tradition going.  Putting on the formal every year requires a lot of work, and without the help of the rest of their roommates and other close friends it could never happen.
    “There’s a lot of work that goes into it, we really have to be passionate about this,” said Lamb, who returned to partake in Friday night’s festivities.
    The day of the formal, the guys re-arrange the house to accommodate so many people.  Many of their other close friends volunteer to help decorate, design the t-shirt, bring food or offer encouragement to prepare for what has become a highly anticipated event.
    “There’s a lot of planning involved before anything else.  Then we clean the house, clear out two entire living rooms, and rent speakers.  There’s at least two days of work before anyone comes over,” said Lamb.
     Guests began to arrive at 10 p.m. The speakers were blaring, the dancing was fast and everyone who attended seemed to enjoy every moment.
    Morgan Kelly attended last year’s formal.  An early education major at GCSU, Kelly returned to the 331 dance floor last Friday.
    “It was good seeing so many people.  I saw some friends from UGA and some people who graduated from GCSU last year.  It’s [the formal] a pretty big deal.”
    Kelly was one of the 425 people who signed the guest list for this year’s event.  Two other GCSU students, Jason Hughes and Aaron Adams, were also on that list.
    “The 331 guys put a lot of time and effort into making the ‘Not So Greek Formal’ a great event every year.  They did a great job this year as well, and I think a lot of people had fun,” said Hughes, a special education major.
    Adams agreed the event was special.
    “I think it is incredibly generous of them to have so many people over,” said Adams, a chemistry major. “Everyone I talked to seemed to know about it and I know everyone and anyone was welcome to be there.  I think the group there was diverse enough that there’s a guarantee that anyone can come and be able to identify with at least one person.”
    After the lights went out and the music faded, the work resumed.  According to Matthew Dobbs, one of the “331 guys,” the clean-up process was not so bad.  It only took a few hours to take down the decorations, pick up trash, and put all the furniture back.  He and his roommates agree that every moment was worth it.
    “We want to do this again next year, too.  I had a lot of fun, and nothing was broken,” added Dobbs.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Jan 26 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry