Delta Sigma Theta and Omega Psi Psi win strolling competition

Last Friday, students gathered around the amphitheater in front of the Fisher Student Center to watch three fraternities and six sororities competed in UNCW's second annual So You Think You Can Stroll? strolling competition. This year's winners were the sorority Delta Sigma Theta and the fraternity Omega Psi Phi.

A stroll is a dance typically done by members of National Pan-Hellenic Council Greek organizations at parties or mixers. A line of members from an organization dance in a single-file line in sync, while moving in a particular direction. Although there are specific strolls that are part of an organization's heritage, many organizations choreograph new ones for fun.

"We wanted to really create a sense of Greek unity among the councils," said Melanie Forbes, secretary of UNCW's Sigma Gamma Rho chapter. "We thought a good way to do that would be to get all the organizations together and teach them something from NPHC culture."

The event held on campus has been organized for the past two years by Sigma Gamma Rho, a NPHC sorority. The five other sororities that participated this year were Alpha Gamma Delta, Delta Sigma Theta, Alpha Phi, Chi Omega and Delta Zeta. The three fraternities were Sigma Nu, Phi Gamma Delta, and Omega Psi Phi. DJ Mike Langston was the host for the competition in addition to working the DJ booth.

Each fraternity and sorority strolled in costume, many wearing their organization's colors. There were five judges who scored them based on creativity, appearance, hype, synchronization and overall performance.

The first round of competition began with a stroll by Omega Psi Phi, who was represented by only two members, the president and vice president of the UNCW chapter. The duo performed to old school hip-hop music.

Hip-Hop, known for its heavy beats and being relatively easy music to dance to, was the music of choice for all but Phi Gamma Delta, who strolled to a rock song, "Rollin'" by Limp Bizkit. Based on audience response, this proved to be a critical error.

The second round went smoothly, as each organization was allowed another opportunity to wow the audience. Throughout the two rounds, the spectators were both amazed and amused allowing for a friendly, competitive environment.

Two fraternities (Sigma Nu, Omega Psi Phi) and three sororities (Alpha Gamma Delta, Sigma Gamma Rho, Delta Sigma Theta) advanced to the final round of competition, where they had to stroll to a specific genre of music without knowing which song. Each organization was given a genre of music prior to the competition, in case they made it to the final round.

Omega Psi Phi strolled to a country music song and won, while Alpha Gamma Delta danced to a country song and lost. Sigma Gamma Rho and Delta Sigma Theta both danced to reggae music and tied. After going head-to-head in a bonus strolling round, Delta Sigma Theta came up victorious for the second year in a row.

"It feels good winning," Jaraea Shepherd said, a member of Delta Sigma Theta, "just cause it's the second year in a row. Hard work pays off."

Most of the Greeks in attendance testified to the weeks of preparation it takes to prepare a stroll for competition. However, Derek Waddell and Ernest Asante president and vice president of UNCW's Omega Psi Phi chapter had something different to say.

"We mostly do this at parties so we have something fresh," Asante said. "Usually it takes a day to work it out, but we can come up with something good in about 20 minutes."

After the competition, as the winning organizations posed for pictures with their trophies, the amphitheater was alive with a mixture of Greek and non-Greek students alike, socializing and dancing to music.