Greek houses partner to raise money for St. Jude

Sororities and fraternities are known for philanthropy events, but they rarely do them together.

On Saturday, six greek organizations came together at Willkie Auditorium to perform in a step show benefitting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

“I think the fact that different greek councils collaborated to put on such a fun and entertaining event that benefited such a good cause was the coolest part,” sophomore Theta Phi Alpha member Ali Farr said.

This idea of coming together inspired the fraternities to create the show.

“We wanted to do somewhat of a cultural event that incorporates everyone,” said Keaton Gachaw, junior and Kappa Alpha Psi member, one of the fraternities that led the collaboration.

The groups that participated in the step show were fraternities Kappa Alpha Psi and Lambda Upsilon Lambda and sororities Alpha Chi Omega, Kappa Delta, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Theta Nu Xi.

“The overall theme of the show is to assimilate the hard times of kids at St. Jude’s,” Gachaw said.

He said the chapters would incorporate the struggles and emotions of kids at St. Jude’s into the routines through the dance steps.

Each chapter had its own routine of about 10 minutes. The show as a whole ran for just less than an hour.

The fraternities were already familiar with stepping, so their members were in charge of teaching the sororities how to do their steps.

“They just contacted us about it and asked us if we wanted to be a part of it,” Erica Pride, a Theta Nu Xi member, said.

“We came up with the idea, and we’re just teaching them the steps,” Gachaw said.

Pride said she had never done stepping before this event. While some of the sisters in her and other sororities picked it up right away, others took extra time to catch on.

“I’m one of the ones he has to go over it with a few times,” Pride said. “But I love it.”
Gachaw said teaching the other sororities was interesting, and that a good amount of patience was key.

“People learn at different speeds,” he said.

Gachaw said the group practiced for about a month prior to the show.

“It takes practice,” he said.

Before the event, some of the girls who were new to step were nervous.

“I don’t know how many people are going to be there,” Pride said. “I hope it turns out well.”

All of the groups received claps and cheers for their efforts.

There were all also several “guest performances,” where smaller groups of fraternities performed special routines to even greater applause.

The sound of the stepping echoed off the walls in the auditorium to a backdrop of blaring rap music.

Farr said she heard about the event through her sorority and decided to attend with a number of her sisters.

“I loved just seeing all of the stepping in general,” she said. “I’ve never seen it done before, so it was really cool to watch, and everyone did so great.”

The event was free, but donations were accepted. Farr said she donated, and saw many others doing the same.

Altogether, the group raised $524 for St. Jude’s.

“Anything helps,” Pride said.

Although the event was meant to help children, Gachaw said one of the best parts was having the opportunity to work with other houses.

“It’s a good experience getting to know other organizations,” he said.