By Gabriella Lucci
Staff Writer
Packer Hall was buzzing with members of the College’s sororities and fraternities on Friday, May 3, as they eagerly waited for the start of the Inter Greek Council AirBand, where seven sororities and five fraternities were represented in the dance and lip-syncing competition in a night to remember.
Beta Theta Pi was the first fraternity to take the stage, as the members recreated the final scene from the film “Pitch Perfect” and won third place for the boys’ portion of the competition.
Another fraternity that performed was Phi Alpha Delta, whose members recreated an iconic scene from the “SpongeBob SquarePants” episode “Band Geeks,” where they played the song "Sweet Victory" and added modern hit songs such as “Knock Knock” by Mac Miller, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus and “Mask Off” by Future. Their performance earned them first place for the boys.
The competing students took their performances very seriously with synchronized dance moves and matching outfits. Some even went to the next level by dressing up as characters. Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity went with a “Shrek” theme and won second place for the boys, while Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority opted for a Candyland vibe and won fourth place for the girls.
Greek Week Chair and junior psychology major John Brezina expressed his excitement for the event.
“It’s been a blast working with these guys,” Brezina said. “It’s a really hard week of a lot of grinding work, but it really pays off because it’s so much fun in the end.”
Brezina’s fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, performed a “TCNJ Intramural Baseball Game,” where they talked about losing but then stuck together and came out on top, which won them fourth place in the competition.
Alexis Colon, a sophomore engineering management major and member of Kappa Delta, was eager to show her support for her sorority.
“(Kappa Delta) put a lot of work into the show,” Colon said. “I’m excited to see the performances.”
The members of Kappa Delta, who ultimately won first place for the girls, came out dressed in matching cowgirl outfits and danced to songs such as “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus, “Hoedown Throwdown” by Miley Cyrus and “Honey I’m Good” by Andy Grammar.
Sigma Kappa Sorority also had matching outfits for its “out of this world” performance as members danced to songs by Ariana Grande, Travis Scott and Kid Cudi while dressed as astronauts.
Some of the competing acts including Kappa Delta, Theta Phi Alpha and Alpha Xi Delta put a fun twist on their performances by incorporating references to the College such as the campus-wide TCNJSaysHi campaign, Eickhoff Hall and the Ambassadors program.
Kappa Delta Rho, the newest fraternity on campus, took the audience through its journey of becoming an organization, discussing the difficulty in finding new recruits and raising money. The story ended on a positive note when members spoke about how much they knew becoming a fraternity would pay off.
Moe Rahmatullah, a junior marketing major and vice president of programming for Inter Greek Council, was “above the moon at a chance to plan such an amazing event.”
Rahmatullah gave credit to Greek Life Event Committee for assisting him in planning and executing the events.
“AirBand is open to all TCNJ students, so it’s a great chance for us to showcase what we bring to the campus, and to interact with non-Greek life students,” he said. “(I’m) always blown away and amazed by how much talent and effort goes into making this happen on the end of the performers. I just wanted to see the culmination of all their hard work.”
Sororities Zeta Tau Alpha and Delta Zeta, which went with female empowerment and robot themes, respectively, both tied in second place for the girls.
“These chapters have put in so much hard work and given their all when it comes to the competitions, these community engaging activities and most importantly this AirBand performance,” said Jaclyn Corbo, a junior history major and newly elected president of the Inter Greek Council. “I’m really excited to see what the TCNJ Greek community has put on for us today. I’m proud of my community and I’m proud of TCNJ for coming out like this.”
