Lambda Alpha Upsilon’s third annual Greek Explosion Stroll Competition was this past Saturday night in Bucknall Theater and it did not disappoint.  This was the fraternity’s third and final fundraising event of the semester with proceeds benefitting Sickle Cell research.  The theater was completely packed an hour before the event started.  People were even waiting outside because they were turned away.

LAU’s two other fundraising efforts this past semester included their fried Oreo fundraiser and Lambda Cuts, where a barbershop cosponsors and brings in their barbers and cuts attendees’ hair.  All proceeds from all of their fundraisers go to Sickle Cell research.

Strolling is a combination of stepping and dancing that multicultural fraternities and sororities have been performing for decades.   According to Greekster, it began in the 1920’s when African-American collegiate organizations incorporated it into their Greek systems.  As its popularity grew, Latin American and other multicultural organizations also began strolling as well.

As part of tradition, LAU does not compete since they host the competition but they do showcase their strolling talents. Last year, Phi Sigma Chi and Lambda Psi Delta won for their respective categories (sorority and fraternity) and were both back in attendance to defend their titles.  Some of the other competitors included Hermandad de Sigma Iota Alpha, Inc, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc, Lambda Pi Upsilon Sorority, Inc, Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity, Lambda Sigma Upsilon Fraternity and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity.

DJ Prestige supplied the music and got the crowd going before the show started with his mix of old school and new music.  They also had a screen showing tweets that featured the hashtag #GreekExplosion3, which prompted people in the crowd to tweet and got them excited to see it on the big screen.  The competition was hosted by an effervescent Rosie from Johnson & Wales University and personable Marcus from Central Connecticut State University who is also a brother of LAU.

Shelissa Newball, Tiffany Wynn, Henry Bonner and Danielle Cuervo judged the competition.  After each performance, sheets were collected from each judge with their scores that way every performance would be scored fairly.

All of the performances were amazing but winners had to be chosen.  For the fraternities, Lambda Sigma Upsilon took the top spot and Lambda Pi Upsilon won amongst the sororities.

Brayan Rivas, senior at UNH and brother of LAU, was very excited about the event and encourages that everyone go to the stroll competition that SIA hosts annually in the spring, where LAU will be able to compete.

It was definitely a must-see; hopefully, the teams bring as much energy and fun to the spring competition as they did to this one!