Songfest is an annual event put on by the Greek Community at Kent State where Fraternities and Sororities come together to raise money and awareness for a cause of their choice. This week, Her Campus sat down with Kaci Miskusevich, the Vice President of Philanthropy and Community Service for the Kent State Panhellenic Council to find out more about Songfest 2014.
Major: Public Communications
Class Standing: Senior
Hometown: Howland, Ohio
Her Campus: Can you tell Her Campus a little bit about Songfest?
Kaci Miskusevich: Songfest is basically an event that the Greek community throws each year. This year I came to the table with three different causes for the Greek community to choose from which were eating disorders, suicide prevention and breast cancer. The Greek Community unanimously chose suicide prevention. We broke it into 7 different teams and they compete where they put a skit together that is 10 minutes long in which they sing and dance.
HC: What were the categories for teams to win?
KM: T-shirt and Bracelet sales, fundraising, performance and attending the two speakers.
HC: Who were the two speakers?
KM: One was Present Beverly Warren for the listening tour and the other was Dr. Dan Reidenberg from the SAVE organization.
HC: I understand you have personally been affected by suicide, how did it make you feel to see the Greek Community come together for this cause?
KM: At first it was breaking my heart because I heard a lot of people weren’t seeing how real it was until I stepped up and said I had been affected. After, I opened up, a lot of people started to open up saying that they had been affected too.
HC: Was it hard for you to share that you had been affected by it or did it come naturally?
KM: It was hard at first, I’ve been told I shouldn’t share it, but eventually I broke those walls down. I wanted people to know that you can battle through these illnesses because they’re real, but you can come out on top.
HC: Who was the special guest judge this year?
KM: The special judge was my mom, I thought it was a good idea because she’s seen a lot of suicide in our family and she didn’t even know what chapter I was in.
HC: Do you think the judges were pleased?
KM: They were ecstatic, none of them are in Greek life so it was cool for them to see a different side of Greeks. It was so nice to show people who weren’t Greek just what we can do.
HC: What’s your favorite part about songfest?
KM: The moment that I realized that we are a community and that we aren’t just battling to the death. It’s when we step back and let every chapter cheer and you can be excited for everyone. It made me excited to see how much we actually respect each other and lean on each other.
HC: Is there anything you want to add?
KM: Just that it was an awesome songfest and a lot of people told me that it was the most well organized songfest ever!
There you have it, all proceeds from this year’s songfest went to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE). The final number raised by the Kent State Greek Community was 31, 099.45. Great job everyone!