University of Tampa fraternities and sororities came together last week for Greek Week, and the events ended with the annual Greek Variety Show themed “Ain’t No Business Like Show Business” on Feb. 28 in Falk Theatre.
The variety show joined Greek and non-Greek crowds in support of Relay for Life, who benefited from 100 percent of the proceeds.
Every Greek organization was paired up in groups to choreograph 10-minute performances that encompassed singing, dancing, acting and comedic skits that portrayed different movie genres. Sigma Delta Tau (Panhellenic Conference), Sigma Lambda Gamma (Multicultural Council) and Tau Kappa Epsilon (Interfraternity Council) partnered up as Team Western and won first place at the Greek Variety Show for their choreography, originality and strong member participation. Team Western performed to a mash-up of Ke$ha’s “Timber,” “Cotton-Eyed Joe,” “These Boots Were Made For Walking,” “Save A Horse (Ride A Cowboy),” “Wild Wild West” by Will Smith and “Fake I.D.” from the movie Footloose, which all began with several of the girls singing an a cappella version of “Home On The Range.”
“Team Western practiced so hard in the weeks leading up to the show,” said Jillian Mattie, the president of SDT. “It took a huge amount of effort from the sisters who sang and danced and also from the boys of TKE.” Mattie, a junior allied health major, said Team Western rehearsed five hours a week to prepare for the show, and they owed everything to their dance captains (and sisters) Ali Vecchio and Stephanie Biernat.
Delta Zeta (Panhellenic Confrence), Phi Beta Sigma (National Pan-Hellenic Council, fraternity), Alpha Tau Omega (Interfraternity Council) and Kappa Kappa Psi (National Interfraternity Music Council) teamed up to perform a Disney mash-up. Each part of this performance highlighted a different Disney movie while a sister danced as the lead princess. There was even a tribute to Walt Disney himself. Team Disney ended up winning Greek Week overall.
At the end of the evening, Brent Grunig, coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life at UT, announced the annual Greek God and Goddess, who were both on Team Disney: ATO’s Jarrett McIntyre and DZ’s Katie Reisman. Kristin Anderson, the president of the Order of Omega (an organization consisting of the top Greek members), then announced the newly inducted members of the organization.
“Winning Greek Week is just the beginning and being crowned Greek God is just another marketing opportunity for my boys,” McIntyre said.
The competition got heated as the week came to a close. Many team participants got into “penny wars” throughout all the events in an attempt to raise the most money for Relay for Life. In the end, Greek Week ended up raising over $4,000 for Relay.
“To me, the ‘success’ of Greek Week is seeing chapters and members who may not usually interact with one another get to know each other, build friendships and create relationships across councils that will last into the future,” Grunig said.
Natalie Hicks can be reached at natalie.hicks@theminaretonline.com