On Thursday, November 28, the GSA held the first conversation club of the year. The event took place in the GSA office from 11 to 1pm.  Our director of cultural affairs, Angelica, did a fantastic job of facilitating the conversation. Several of our members came to discuss rather simple topics, with the main focus of relieving exam stress. Our executive council plans on holding another conversation club next semester. Thank you to all who attended!

Monsters, ghouls, cats, Greek goddess’s and sailors. These were some of many creative and original costumes at the annual Halloween Havoc hosted by ΣΕΦ Toronto. The Greek Students’ Association  of U of T, York and Ryerson worked extremely hard in order to put together an amazing night. This event took place on Friday October 25^th at Fiction Nightclub. The music was a great mix of English as well as Greek which kept everyone on the dance floor moving. The venue was nicely decorated with spider webs, pumpkins and insects, giving the club a spooky atmosphere. Overall, it was a stress free fun and memorable night filled with dancing, and of course moon howling.

The annual anniversary of “Oxi Day” was celebrated ,as every year,at the Danforth.The “Oxi day” marks the start of the greek-italian war when the prime minister of Greece at the time,Ioannis Metaxas, said no to opening the greek boarders in order for the Italian army to occupy the country.Since then, the 28^th of October is a national celebration.The Greek Community of Toronto organizes a parade each year to celebrate the heroic  response, and commemorate those who fought. The Greek Students’ Association at the University of Toronto ,York University and Ryerson University attended the parade with groups of students and marched with pride with the rest of the Greek Community.All together they paid their respects to the people that fought during the war and helped Greece to be an independent country and preserve its values and national identity. After the parade was over, everyone met their families and spread all over the Danforth to have a traditional greek lunch.The GSA,finished their day by having lunch at the restaurant “Astoria” with the rest of their friends and families.

On Thursday, May 16, 2013, SEF Toronto held their annual end of year banquet at Spirale Banquet Hall. Ryerson, York, and the University of Toronto collaborated to create a spectacular $45 per guest evening, including a 4 course dinner, professional photography, an open bar, prizes, awards, a sweets table and of course, a live DJ who spun both top 40 and traditional Greek. The night was a success as the hall reached its capacity with 101 students and good vibes.

All members of the executive teams either baked or bought something for the dessert arrangement. Desserts including fresh apple pie, cherry cheesecake and caramel crunch cake. A raffle was hosted to help raise funds to pay off the costs of the formal. The raffle prizes included were: a Free VIP bottle service inclusive night out (Donated by Era Events), Blackberry Z10 smartphone (Donated by Gravity Wireless), Toronto FC tickets (Donated by the Raios Family), a Jack Astors’ gift card, a Salon Elias gift card, and Java Joe’s gift basket.  A special thanks goes to those who contributed to the raffle gifts, and thank you to everyone who purchased tickets in great aspirations.

The U of T certificates were awarded after the first meal. The awards included: Member of the year, won by Niko Katsieris and Anastasios Exacoustos, Directors of the year, Vikki Bekiaris and Danielle Tavernese, and Executives of the year, Nicole Gretes and Dimitri Kyriakakis. The GSA then honoured its graduating class of 2013, which included: Dimitri Kyriakakis, Nicole Gretes, Niko Katsieris, Dion Vassos, and Natalie Sorfazlian. Finally, the recipient of the Azemopoulos award this year is our graduating president, Dimitri Kyriakakis. The Azemopoulos Award is awarded to the most dedicated, hard working President out of the SEF Toronto presidents.  A slideshow displaying his many contributions to the GSA over the years was put together by Giorgio Papadakis and this years’ newly elected president, Kosta Katsanevas.

We would like to thank Chris Christofi, owner of Spirales Banquet Hall, for his great generosity and support of the Greek Students  Furthermore the U of T GSA would like to thank everyone who came out to another successful event, and acknowledge our members who continue to support our heritage. We look forward to seeing you all in September as we are expecting our best year.

For a photo gallery, please CLICK HERE