On Tuesday night Breslin Center was packed with hundreds of screaming students, dressed up and waving glow-in-the-dark sticks to support their fraternities and sororities in the annual MTV Night dance competition.
Panhellenic Council vice-president of communications and journalism junior Faith Krogulecki said her favorite aspect of the night was all the teams coming together for a common purpose.
She said this event, along with Songfest, concludes all the work the greek community did this semester to raise money and help out in the community.
A big part of MTV Night for Krogulecki is the way it brings fraternities and sororities together. A chapter cannot have the same partner, so every year people are paired up with somebody new.
“That’s awesome because it’s a whole new opportunity to make new friends and new connections,” Krogulecki said.
She said MTV Night is important because when someone joins a chapter, they also join the greek community. This event brings everyone together for a night of dancing and fun.
For education freshman Olivia Kraeuter, this was her first year performing at MTV Night.
She said it was a little overwhelming at first, but the energy from the crowd quickly got her pumped up.
“This is probably the biggest audience I’ve ever performed in front of, but it’s just so fun because everyone you know on campus is in this room watching,” Kraeuter said.
The performance was bittersweet for Kraeuter. She said although a big weight has been lifted because of all the hard work they put in, it’s sad that it’s done because they all got so close over the course of the semester.
“I’m going to miss the practices and all the people that we saw every day for the past four weeks,” Kraeuter said. “But I’m really proud of what we did tonight.”
She said her favorite part of MTV Night was performing, because her team finally had that moment they’d been working toward for the past three months.
“To finally have that feeling of leaving it all on the dance floor and giving 110 percent and hearing the crowd react to what we’ve worked on, that’s an indescribable feeling,” Kraeuter said.
She said she loves how many people come to MTV Night, going all out by dressing in their team’s theme and bringing signs and other things to cheer each other on.
Kraeuter said they were cheering for people they’d never met and teams they’d never worked with just because they did something awesome.
“It’s fun to see all the greek community in one room supporting each other and having fun,” Kraeuter said.
Marketing freshman Geneva Swanson also experienced her first MTV Night performance.
“At first, I was terrified because it’s a bunch of college students and people I’m going to see every day for the next four years,” Swanson said.
But her fear didn’t last long. She said as soon as she got on stage the adrenaline kicked in, and she got energy from hearing the greek community cheering her on.
Having been a dancer her whole life, Swanson said she never remembers the performance afterward because it all happens so fast.
“As soon as you’re done with it, it’s so rewarding to know that’s what we worked hard for, and no matter the outcome, we’re all proud of what we did,” Swanson said.
As an upperclassman, political science senior Daniel Swartz’s enthusiasm hasn’t faltered.
He said although a lot of seniors don’t participate as much, he always has a great time being out there supporting greek society.
Despite his experience, Swartz still feels anxious before a performance.
“It gets nerve-wracking when you’re sitting on deck,” Swartz said. “You hear everyone screaming and everyone chanting for your fraternity and sorority.”
Once Swartz gets onstage, he said it feels just like another practice.
After the performance, he said he feels bittersweet because of how quickly it goes by, and because of the connection he made with his teammates.
“But you get to relive the memories, which is always the best part,” Swartz said.
