Thursday, March 28, 2024

Multicultural Greek Showcases performances highlight social issues

<p>Advertising junior Koraima Guillen leads her Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. sisters in a chant March 27, 2015, during the Multicultural Greek Showcase at IM West. The girls performed to commemorate their founders and the tradition of their sorority. Kennedy Thatch/The State News</p>

Advertising junior Koraima Guillen leads her Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority, Inc. sisters in a chant March 27, 2015, during the Multicultural Greek Showcase at IM West. The girls performed to commemorate their founders and the tradition of their sorority. Kennedy Thatch/The State News

Photo by Kennedy Thatch | The State News

The event was hosted by the Multicultural Greek Council, and the entire night showcased the unique talents of the participating organizations, while fostering unity between the organizations.

“There’s more to our council than people expect,” MGC President Davina James said. “We do things other people do, like dance and step, and we wanted to show that it was important to us too — that we have fun.”

Including the showcases, there were three competitions where individuals from each participating chapter represented their house. The first was a timed test to see who could list all the participating organizations the fastest, including MGC sororities and fraternities not associated with MSU. The second was another timed test, this one to list the entire Greek alphabet. The third was a good old-fashioned dance-off.

One of the biggest draws of the showcase to greeks and non-greeks alike was to witness MSU’s diverse culture come together, which is exactly why human biology senior Guillermo Moreno and computer science sophomore Collin Raines said he attended the event.

“I want to support the diversity on campus,” Raines said.

For those performing, the night an wide array of emotions as they waited to take to the basketball court for their performances.

“It’s a mix of nerves and excitement,” biochemistry and molecular biology junior Tyler Bonanno of Delta Lambda Phi, a social fraternity for gay, bisexual and progressive men, said before they performed their stroll and a speech about their fraternity.

Members of the sorority Sigma Sigma Rho also felt excited and nervous before their members performed their stroll and a skit on domestic violence to raise awareness on the different forms domestic violence can take.

Each girl spoke to narrate a different domestic violence situation, while others acted out the situation to their narration. One in particular featured a text message element, in which a man was harassing his girlfriend over the phone to force her to leave during a night out with her friends.

Lambda Theta Alpha, a Latin sorority, performed a salute and stroll for their showcase. “We’re all super excited to be here,” food industry management sophomore Marissa Sustaita said.

Rachel Huang, a psychology senior, was in high spirits after alpha Kappa Delta Phi’s performance.

“It felt really good,” she said. “It felt good to work together with each other, to create a dance for this event. I’m really proud. We should all be really proud of our organizations.”

James said she felt the event went well and that people seemed to have a good time while watching and participating.

"I’m looking forward to next year,” James said.

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