On Thursday March 1st 2012, the GSA attended the University of Toronto Students Union’s annual Unity Ball. The Unity Ball is a dinner, awards show, and dance for the best student clubs/organizations at the University of Toronto. For the second consecutive year, the GSA won a U.T.S.U. Student Leadership Award. This year we were awarded with the most outstanding cultural group award. The award was accepted by the GSA President (Dimitri), VP Internal (Stacey), VP External (Kostas), and the Athletic Director (Chris Vassos).  Once again, the GSA filled an entire table and was delighted with the subsidized dinner ticket. Dinner included a delicious buffet followed by a fantastic dessert buffet. Various performances were presented during dinner including dance groups and a presentation by the Muslim Students Association. The night was topped off by Chris Vassos winning the top prize in the raffle, winning an HP Laptop.  It was truly a successful night and just goes to show how dedicated and well-rounded the GSA is at U of T.  We would like to thank the U.T.S.U. for all of their hard work and thank the GSA for once again winning an oustanding student leadership award.

As the 2011-2012 school year draws to a close, we may look back upon the successful events, programs, and trips that the Greek Student Association has organized in the preceding months. Drama and excitement remained at an all-time high on the athletics front, as numerous individual and team achievements paved the way for a year filled with surprises.

The GSA Basketball team, captained by powerhouse James Katsuras, have recently finished what was a successful and promising season, finishing in third after having played a strong game against U of T’s first-place Phys. Ed team. Despite a 6-point deficit, the GSA showed tremendous heart, and ended their season on a bright note.

GSA Soccer continues this week, as captain Chris Vassos marches the team on into the quarter finals. Determined, and seemingly unconquerable, the boys look to avenge their only loss of the season, as they take on the team that defeated them earlier in February.  The team is looking to repeat an open division championship run, just as they did last year. The team we are facing are called “Univeristy of Toronto Soccer Pros,” the same team we faced last year in the championship game. Only winning by one goal in golden-goal extra time, UTSP are a very challenging match-up. Though the result may be unsure as of yet, the boys know that more than pride is at stake. In every game, and in every victory, we play for the Greek Student Association.

“Hey. Soccer is nice. I like soccer. Basket ball is nice as well. I like it too. One question i got a lot while playing professionally for the GSA was, “Who is soccer.” The answer is simple. We are soccer GSA, we are soccer. For those of you wondering If I like chocolate, it’s true. I like chocolate.” – GSA Indoor Soccer Team Captain, Chris Vassos

The GSA hosted its annual post-Montreal party while celebrating Τσικνοπέμπτη, a Greek tradition to grill meat before fasting begins, on February 23rd at Whistler’s Bar & Grill. The event was a huge success, as the venue was packed and students from all three universities enjoyed an abundant amount of souvlaki sticks, chicken strips, chicken wings, salad, drinks, and good music. The event cost $5 for UofT GSA members and $15 for non-members. The admission got each person one drink ticket, raffle ticket, and a buffet of all the delicious meat.  Raffle prizes included GSA T-shirts and a grand prize of a GSA hoodie. Zeibekika and tsiftetelia accompanied by sfinakia followed soon after.  Thank you all for coming out and supporting the GSA. A very special thank you to Steve Mastoras and the rest of the crew at Whistler’s Bar & Grill for providing the GSA with phenomenal service. Happy fasting and Καλό Πάσχα to everyone.

The Greek Students’ Association of the University of Toronto held its third annual Academic Night on Wednesday February 1st 2012. The annual wine and cheese event was held in Hart House’s Music Room in order to allow both students and professionals to mingle.  The president of the Greek Students’ Association, Dimitri Kyriakakis, and the Honourable Consul General of Greece, Dimitris Azemopoulos, both enlightened us on the current initiatives of the Association. There were two informative mini lectures – fine art and computer programming by two UofT professors, Professor Hugh Mason and Professor Christina Christara. The fun night continued with a raffle offering prizes kindly donated by Messini Authentic Greek Gryos and Mezes Restaurant. We would also like to thank our event sponsor, dine.TO for helping making this event as successful as it always is. Thank you to everyone who helped put together the event and a very special thank you to Dora Konomi and Katerina Maragos for being the masters of ceremony for the event.

On December 7th, 2011 the GSA hosted a Night to Unite inside Libra Lounge on King Street West. A Night to Unite is an event that was co-hosted by our Honourable Consul General of Greece in Toronto, Dimitris Azemopoulos,  in hopes to unite Hellenic students from all across Toronto to come and sign two petitions: 1. To bring a modern Greek studies course back to the University of Toronto and 2. To bring the NSHA Spring convention to Toronto in April 2012.  The event was a huge success as we had a turn out over 100 students from York, Ryerson, and U of T St. George and Scarborough campuses. Even though universities were just entering exam times, Hellenic students came out to show their support in what the GSA at U of T was trying to accomplish. After short speeches by Dimitri Kyriakakis and Kelly Kefalianos (Presidents of St. George and Scarborough Campuses) the night continues with drinking, mingling, and finally dancing. Thank you for everyone that came out to this event and thank you for showing your support for the GSA and it’s initiatives!

On Thursday November 3rd 2011 the GSA accomplished a goal it has been trying to reach since the group was conceived: Roasting a Lamb on Campus. At 6:00am on the morning of November 3rd, Kosta Katsanevas (VP External), George Anastasakos (Treasurer), Dimitri Kyriakakis (President), and Christos Dodas (dedicated member) met at the steps of Sidney Smith patio on St. George Street and set up a charcoal spit determined to roast a lamb over the growing fire. And so it began. From 6:30am through 2pm the GSA slow roasted a 34lbs lamb over a charcoal-spit fire until safely edible. It was a sight to see! After a long application process, the GSA succeeded in acquiring fire safety, space, and food permits to accomplish this feat.  Once the go-ahead was given by our University, the GSA structured Fall Greek Day around the roasting of our baby lamb. We barbecued sausages and hot dogs until the lamb was ready to be sliced and served along with an assortment of many store-bought desserts.  We also sold our stylish GSA hoodies and t-shirts, recruited new GSA members, and had passer-bys sign our petition for a the revival of a modern Greek language course at U of T. Fall Greek Day was a huge success with over 1000 students coming out to see the lamb roast, hundreds of signatures for our petition, and 20 new members. Thank you for everyone that came out and witnessed history in the making as the GSA added another milestone to its long list of accomplishments.

On Sunday October 30th, the GSA marched alongside the HSA’s of York, Ryerson, and McMaster Universities in the annual OXI day parade on the Danforth. The weather was beautiful and as always, the GSA had the largest turn out of all the University Student Associations. With 18 proud marchers made up of executives and members, the GSA anchored the pack of University students.  We later took over Megas Restaurant and enjoyed our traditional post-parade lunch.  Thank you to everyone that came out and marched. Zhto Ellada!

On Friday October 28th, 2011 the GSA united with the Hellenic Students’ Associations at York and Ryerson University to co-host our annual Halloween costume party, Halloween Havoc. The party was co-hosted with Era Events led by Giorgio Papadakis. The party kicked off 10:30PM at Atelier Night Club on King Street West just west of Spadina. The turn out was phenomenal.  With all 10 bottle service booths sold out, the club’s capacity was hit by wmidnight.  DJ Kid Scratch mixed Hip-Hop and top 40 and With DJ Arg making everyone move with his best House mixed with Moder Greek, the music was perfect.  Costumes came in a vast variety as we found wolverine, batman, Lara Croft, zoro, the joker, dozens of firefighters, and many more.   Dancing and partying went on until 3am before the club shut us down.  The GSA would like to thank everyone that came out, the great co-operation with York and Ryerson’s HSA’s, and Era Events for making this year’s Halloween Havoc the most successful in GSA History.