Austin Dowd
Each wearing all black and a pink scarf, the sisters of Sigma Kappa walked onto stage to the theme song of The Pink Panther to kick off Sigma Chi’s Derby Day’s dance competition Saturday as they continued to raise money for the Frankie Lemmon School.
More than 400 supporters that consisted of Greek Life members, family and friends came out to watch the seven sororities perform their dances.
Two dance team members, Lauren Cobb and Amber Cochran, accompanied by former Student Body President Tony Caravano, judged the performances.
“This is my second time judging the Derby Days dance competition and I could really see that the ladies stepped it up from last year,” Caravano said. “It is awesome to see they’re all willing to give up their time to help out the guys of Sigma Chi.”
Each sorority choreographed their own dance and incorporated their Sigma Chi coach. The coaches’ participation served as a comic relief to the audience as some brothers were seen in ballerina tutus, suspenders or even in a Tootsie Roll costume trying to dance to 69 Boyz.
“This being my first Derby Days, I had no idea how intense the competition would be,” Delta Gamma coach Mark Davis, sophomore in business management, said. “I embarrassed myself multiple times over the course of Derby Days, but it was well worth it for the money raised.”
The sisters of Alpha Delta Pi hit the stage with loud energy, surpassing other dance performances as the judges awarded the sorority with first place. Delta Zeta finished second, Chi Omega took third and Zeta Tau Alpha closed out the top four.
“We have been practicing really hard for the past few months,” Julie Thorpe, a senior in communications and Alpha Delta Pi member, said. “It felt good to get out onto stage to perform and it feels even better to win.”
According to the Derby Daddy Phil Foy, Sigma Chi had raised $3,500 by Sunday afternoon, excluding money raised from T-shirt sales and other extra donations. He said he expected the fundraiser to exceed $4,000 for the grand total.
“This week went extremely smooth, many girls came out and supported their teams to help raise a lot of money,” said Foy, a junior in biological sciences. “It seems like each year we are able to bring about more awareness and participation.”
He said he could only see a few areas where the event needed improvement.
“The only thing I would have done differently would have been to try to be more organized when it came to being in contact with the girls during the week leading up to Derby Days,” Foy said.
Brothers of Sigma Chi said each year’s success gives them another reason to set the bar even higher for themselves for the following year.
Supporters gathered at Red’s Beach Club Saturday night to celebrate the end of a successful fundraiser and to announce the overall winners of Derby Days.
Zeta Tau Alpha was awarded first place, Alpha Delta Pi came in second and Pi Beta Phi finished third.