 "Photo:")
A life-size cardboard Killer Tofu carton danced around a few Doug Funnies and several Patti Mayonnaises. The carton of bean curd moved its mouth up and down, pretending to sing the lyrics to the song "Killer Tofu" by The Beets. Shortly after, Quailman jumped on stage to make his appearance.
Besides members of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity being characters from the Nickelodeon cartoon, "Doug," fraternity and sorority members participating in Airband, a lip-syncing and dancing contest that is part of Greek Week, either created their own themes or were characters from movies, television shows and board games.
Members of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority chose to do their performance based on "The Flintstones." Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty were all on stage, along with their foot-powered car.
The Kappa Alpha fraternity members did several stunts in their portion of the show. They allowed their bodies to be used as jump ropes and also crouched on the floor while one member walked across all of their backs.
Members of Kappa Delta Rho fraternity chose a theme based on the board game Monopoly. Different aspects of the game, such as the pieces and properties, were given their own song. Fraternity members danced to the "Electric Slide" to represent the Electric Company property.
Each fraternity or sorority's performance featured a music mix. The songs ranged from Hip-hop to rock to disco to pop. Greek members wore costumes, used props and painted backdrops to make the most of their minutes on stage.
The Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, whose members did a "Pirates of the Caribbean" theme, was the winning fraternity, and Sigma Kappa sorority, whose members danced to a "Cinderella" theme, was the winning sorority.
The Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity were the second and third-place fraternities while Alpha Xi Delta sorority and Alpha Phi sorority won second and third place for sororities.
Freshman Sarah Dodd said she thought Airband was enjoyable to watch and found Sigma Pi fraternity's exposure of their gluteus maximus in an educational "Magic School Bus" theme the most surprising part of the show.
"The thongs," Dodd said. "Very unexpected."
Junior Carly Fleagle said she was surprised university students had "so much talent." Her favorite theme was "Cinderella."
"Tying in the themes with the dancing - I thought they were really neat," Fleagle said.
Matt Lenno, assistant director of Greek Life, said 3,108 tickets, more than 1,000 of which were for audience members not involved in Greek Life, were sold for the event.
The ticket sales raised approximately $15,000, he said. The money will be split evenly between the Emmaus House, which provides homeless families with shelter and various services, and the Early Learning Center, which provides care and education to children up through age 12.
Lenno said he was pleased with the outcome of Airband.
"The chapters really stepped it up a notch," he said. "The men did an outstanding job."
Junior Howie Shen said he enjoyed the show and Sigma Pi fraternity's performance was his favorite. He said he preferred the fraternities and sororities' shows that had simple themes with less dialogue.
"For the most part, I liked the ones that had good beats," Shen said. "I liked the ones where they focused on dance moves."
Brittany Hessemer, a recent university graduate, said she thought Airband was entertaining and preferred the performances with well-thought-out ideas.
"I really only liked the fraternities and sororities that had strong themes," Hessemer said. "Otherwise, they lose me."
She said she was impressed fraternities and sororities put so much effort into their performances and then donated $15,000 to charity.
"It's good Greek Life is coming together in a positive way," Hessemer said.
Lenno said other colleges and universities have similar events like Airband for Greek members.
"None of them are up to the size and magnitude of ours," Lenno said.
Follow us on Twitter
Subscribe to our feed
Contact us through email
Be the first to comment on this article!