By AnnaBelle Boone / The Jambar
For over 70 years, Greek Sing at Youngstown State University has supported community and fun for sororities and fraternities in an annual song-and-dance event, and its latest iteration April 12 was no exception.
The theme for this year’s event was wordplay. Each group had to pick one word that tied all their songs together — for example, Theta Chi’s word was “dance.” The fraternity’s song medley included “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA and “One Dance” by Drake, among other dance-related tunes.
The groups performed in two categories, including Formal Class, the traditional Greek Sing show where the entire group sings and dances, and Open Class, where it’s up to the fraternity or sorority to decide the performance.
Sigma Alpha Epsilon took home the award for the Fraternity Formal Class, while Delta Zeta won the Sorority Formal Class category. Senior Santino Hanuschak of Alpha Phi Delta won the Open Class award for his solo performance of “Never Enough” by Loren Allred.
Martina Lemos, current vice president for learning and development for Zeta Tau Alpha, was one of the students who appeared on stage. Her role allowed her to train the organization’s new members and teach them the sororities’ history.
“I really enjoy all of it,” Lemos said. “I feel like I always get to know all my sisters better during Greek Sing practice, because you get to spend time with them and really bond.”
Lemos said the event’s planning process spanned two semesters, with input from all sorority members.
“The planning started a long time ago, like in last semester,” Lemos said. “We did a poll. A poll with the whole sorority, with all our options. Then, we decided on ‘girls,’ and it was great.”
Zeta Tau Alpha was the last group to perform at Greek Sing. Their chosen word, “girls,” allowed them to perform a variety of songs from different genres and decades, including “Rich Girl” by Gwen Stefani, “Country Girl (Shake It For Me)” by Luke Bryan and “Run the World (Girls)” by Beyoncé.
Zeta Tau Alpha also won the crowd-voted Fan Favorite award, and Lemos said the win was unexpected.
“Winning the Fan Favorite award was the biggest shock of the night,” Lemos said. “We didn’t expect it at all, and we were really happy about it.”
Meghan Crump, vice president of administration for Zeta, performed at the competition for her second year. She contributed to the group’s lift stunts — a skill many groups include in their shows — and said her background in dance helped her perform.
“I love trying new tricks, and lifts, and I love it when we do it right for the first time,” Crump said. “I wasn’t really scared when we first performed it. I was a trained dancer growing up, and I knew my sisters always had me.”
In addition to the group awards, Greek Sing recognizes sorority members with their efforts throughout the school year. Crump, who was this year’s recipient of the Panhellenic Service award, said winning the award came as a surprise to her.
“I wasn’t even fully listening,” Crump said. “I was busy looking at my Panhellenic Executive Council badge, then I heard them mention my event, ‘Pink Out Penguins,’ and I stared at my sisters, shocked. I was truly so proud that I could bring a service award to Zeta.”
Greek Life has yet to announce next year’s event. Those interested can follow YSU’s sororities and fraternities on Instagram to keep up with announcements.