The heart of the Walter Pyramid beat heavily with enthusiasm as the entire Cal State Long Beach Greek system united for Greek Sing on Thursday evening. The sororities and fraternities competed in groups with various dance and acting routines, in order to raise money for Camp One Heartland, an institute dedicated to helping children with Aids integrate into society and lead normal lives.
The theme of the evening was famous cartoons, as each sorority was teamed up at random with multiple fraternities and other members from the cultural Greek community. The teams were provided with a strict set of guidelines to follow for each of their routines.
Judges ranged from CSULB professors and members of the camp. They based their criteria on creativity, performance and the incorporation of Camp One Heartland within each skit, with no more than 14-minutes to execute each routine.
After a dance from the members of the Greek committee, the night kicked off with Sigma Kappa performing with Kappa Sigma, Zeta Phi Rho and Sigma Lambda Gamma as “The Rugrats.” After an exciting performance to jumpstart the show, “Scooby Doo” followed, providing a creative act by Delta Zeta, Zeta Beta Tau, Sigma Chi, Chi Delta Theta and Lambda Theta Alpha.
Tri Delta, Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Psi, Kappa Psi Epilson and Delta Lambda showed off imaginative costumes as the characters of “Pokémon.” Alpha Phi, Theta Chi, Pi Kappa Alpha, Sigma Lambda Gamma and Lambda Theta Phi showed off their inventive style as “The Ninja Turtles,” making the crowd roar with approval.
With some of the less notable themed TV shows, members from Delta Gamma, Phi Kappa Tau, Tau Kappa Epsilon and Phi Iota Alpha were not discouraged as they found a way to make cartoons like “Rocket Power” appeal to their audience, even standing up on each other’s backs during their skit in order to emulate Reggie and Otto’s famous surfing tricks.
Gamma Phi Beta, Sigma Pi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Sigma Phi Omega sported elite costumes of lime green, baby blue, and pink tutus, alluding to their creative means in which to make their cartoon, “The Powerpuff Girls,” that much more entertaining for the audience.
While each group worked to follow the guidelines to perform to the best of their ability, the larger-than-life energy and consistent rhythm produced by the members of Alpha Omicron Pi, Pi Kappa Phi, Fiji, Delta Sigma Chi, Zeta Eta Tau and Lambda Sigma Gamma caused an obvious buzz from the crowd while forcing the judges to take notice. With the cartoon “Recess,” the group took home the first place prize that evening, a large statuses gold trophy, as well as bragging rights until next year, as the 2012 Greek Sing winners. “Rocket Power” and “Scooby Doo” took second and third places, respectively.
After weeks of practice, sometimes entering into the late hours of the night and early hours of morning, the Greek community seemed to set aside their needs to win, in order to cheer each other on and commend each other for all their hard work.
The event managed to raise more than $14,000 for Camp One Heartland. The outcome of uniting as a group and raising money for a greater cause remained the most important message floating within the air.
