On Sunday March 25th the GSA marched alongside the York, Ryerson, and U of T Scarborough’s Greek/Hellenic Students in the annual Greek Independence Day parade.  It was a beautiful sunny March afternoon and the GSA brought out a record attendance of 20 students, the most from any other University. Afterwards we went for lunch to Megas Restaurant with Scarborough and York’s HSA.  Thanks to everyone that came out and walked! Zhto Ellas!

For the week of March 19-22 the GSA turned U of T Greek! This was the first time ever that the GSA expanded its famous Greek Day to Greek Week.  Greek Week was made up of two bake sales, an electoral debate, Greek Day, a Lamb roast, and the GSA Executive Elections. This was by far the hardest, most exhausting, and most successful event the GSA has ever pulled off.

On Monday March 19th we held our first bake sale at the Galbraith Atrium on the St. George side. A quite venue, we attracted many engineers with our homemade tiropita/spanakopita and fresh Frappes. On Tuesday March 20th we held our second bake sale in Sidney Smith Hall.  We sold homemade baklava, loukoumades, Greek Cookies and many more. Tuesday night we held an electoral debate between our two Presidential Candidates and Secretary-General candidates. Both pairs were asked questions by the current executive council, GSA members, guests, and the debate mediator, George Gretes.

On Wednesday March 17th we hosted our annual Greek Day at Sidney Smith Hall. We served a $5 dinner plate (Free for GSA members) of either Astoria Souvlaki or Messini Gyros with rice, potatoes, and salad. We also sold more homemade baked goods along with Frappes. With record breaking warm temperatures, we moved Greek Day outside to the patio of Sidney Smith and sold our dinner plates to passerby’s. This was also the first day of GSA voting.  Thursday marked our second-ever Lamb roast.  From 7:00 Dimitri Kyriakakis, Kostas Katsanevas, and George Anastasakos set up a 34lbs lamb on a spit and over a charcoal souvla. Throughout the day we watched as the lamb roasted. We served ice cold Frappes, bbq souvlaki on a bun, homemade baked goods. The weather was absolutely perfect as everyone waited for the lamb to finish roasting. Voting also continued as it was conducted by Kelly Kefalianos from UTSC’s GSA, Despina Versallis from Ryerson’s HSA, and Despina Ritsakis from York’s HSA.

Overall Greek Week was a huge success. Please visit our online album to check out all the photos! The GSA would like to thank all the executives, directors, associates, and friends of the GSA that helped make the week possible and all of the members that came out to enjoy all the Free food and vote. A special thank you to our event sponsors/donators: Astoria, Messini Authentic Gyros, Markham Station Restaurant, Select Bakery, Serano Bakery, and Ellas Meat Market.

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!