One of the greatest parts of the University of Texas is that because of it’s size there is always something going on. If you have ever been in West Campus on the weekend you’ll see that Greek Life provides multiple events on any given night. The struggle, however, has always been, who is having an event and what are the details? You don’t want to assume there is a party at a house and then awkwardly walk into a mixer that you aren’t a part of. Sophomore advertising major Ari Gootnick created an answer to our questions when he co-developed the new app GreekLink.
Originally from California, Ari made the move to Texas after spending some time in Austin and realizing this was the place he wanted to spend his four years of college in. He soon joined the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity as he felt that as an out of state student it was a good way to meet people and get involved, it was there that the idea for GreekLink emerged.
GreekLink is a social media application that connects the Greek houses with each other and their event goers. You can see a calendar of upcoming events (along with where they are and what time), as well as RSVP and comment or take photos. The app takes out all of the guessing of where the party is for the night because now you can know weeks in advance when they will take place (helps planning your outfit for a themed party so much easier!).
Abz Zeitler, an Alpha Chi Omega on campus and a friend of Gootnick’s, saw that UT’s Greek life had a flaw in staying connected with one another. Together they developed the starting frame work of the app and worked on how best they could connect students at UT. Together with his partner, Noah Johnson, Gootnick hired a development and design team from Ukraine to help create the app. Johnson is a student at the University of Southern California and the two have been great friends and business partners since high school.
Ari hopes to spread the app across the country to different universities, and will already be starting it up in 5-10 universities over the next few months. Gootnick says that he has received a ton of positive feedback for the app, and said that people have noted how much more aware they are of events since the launch of the app.
If you have not checked out the app, I recommend downloading it on your smart phone! If you see this campus celeb at an event you can thank him!