October 20th, members of our National Pan-Hellenic Council (NPHC) came together to participate in their Homecoming Step Show. The step show is a crowd pleasing event in which NPHC chapters compete against one another in a step performance to be titled the winner! This fall, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. took the title.
Aside from the NPHC steppers, there were other performances as well. NPHC’s President, Brittany Buchannon said, “my favorite part was definitely Essence of Hip Hop and the ASA performance. I think they captured the audience well and their performances were along the lines of stepping as well. It all flowed so nicely together.”
An immense amount of time from every individual chapter is spent prepping for the show. When talking about the prep work that went in to it Brittany said, “We [her chapter] practiced Wednesday through Sunday for at least an hour and max of three hours. We had to film our video, test music for strolling and get costumes together. So many things went into making the show great.” Ja’Kel Ringo, a committee member of the show, said the following of her chapter’s prep work, “there is a lot of prepping that Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. have to do, such as figuring out what steps we want to do, making sure that everybody is on the same page when being taught the steps, trying to match everybody’s schedules up, and much more.” Their hard work did not go unnoticed, as they were titled the winners of the show.
Many of the NPHC executive members and step show committee members spoke of the success of the show and their excitement for next years to be done even bigger and better! Committee Member Jayveon Harris said, “The attendance we expected was surpassed extensively. All the teams that we had participate were crisp and clean…The feedback I have been receiving from outside spectators has been widely positive. So all in all I believe that we did a good job giving the campus the show they’ve been longing for. We just look forward to looking back to see how we can improve the show even more for next year!”
Great job to all our NPHC chapters that participated! We already can’t wait for next years show!
Homecoming is an honored tradition for alumni and students alike at Missouri State University. Each year the community comes together to participate and show their school pride in a series of fun events. This year, our fraternity and sorority life community creatively worked to represent our Bears Through the Ages themed Homecoming! Judges from Missouri State University and the Springfield community determined the winner of each event, and gave appropriate points to teams who best applied originality, creativity, correlation to the overall theme, and amount of pride for MSU!
Every fall, Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) team up to co-host a BBQ for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Each year, they sponsor a child and this year it was five year old Emelia. Emelia was diagnosed with Acute Lymphobastic Leukemia (ALL). Over the last two years, Mia has undergone 55 transfusions, 24 spinal taps, liver failure, and multiple hospital stays lasting up to a month. The event took place on September 18th, and with sweet Mia and her family in attendance, there was fun to be had by all!
Alpha Chi Omega’s VP Philanthropy, Katie Hansen, said, “this is the event I have been waiting my whole term as VP Philanthropy to plan. Going into the pediatric healthcare field, I have a passion for Make-A-Wish and what it stands for. It was incredible getting to work with the company directly while getting to know Emelia and her family and their story. Seeing them tear up leaving the event in gratitude made all the stress and hard work from the last few months so incredibly worth it.” When asked what her favorite part of the event was, Katie said, “hands down hanging out with Mia! She took me by surprised and was so bold in getting to know all the people who came out to support her! We drew with chalk for quite some time, she enjoyed a few servings of ice cream, and even followed me around our sorority house to get a tour and meet all the girls! Hearing her giggle and play with Morris, our house dog, was so precious.”
FIJI’s Philanthropy Chair, Logan Pieski, added that his favorite part was meeting Emelia as well. “Her personality was contagious. She is a fighter. No one should have to go through cancer especially a five year old. She has been through way more than the normal person and it doesn’t faze her. She is a person people can look up to and realize that they can overcome anything.” Logan concluded saying “Alpha Chi Omega and Phi Gamma Delta’s Make-A-Wish BBQ is a success because of who we have in our chapters. We have the go getters [that] want to get the job done. We don’t do this for ourselves, but to help out others. Katie Hansen was an incredible person to work with. She kept me on my toes and pushed me to get the job done. Ultimately, this was a success because we touched the life of Emelia, and I got to work with the best sorority on campus. This is a win-win in my book.”
