Shannon Marren crowned 2016 Delta Queen in Delta Tau Delta’s highly anticipated philanthropy event on Tuesday Feb. 17 in Pollak Theater.
Delta Queen is unlike any other Greek event on campus. The competition lasted three months showing the competitiveness of each organization that the campus does not typically see for Greek events.
“Something that I think sets our event apart is the time we take with having contestants and making them a part of the process. Raising money is not easy, especially on a college campus so by making this something that everyone could really be a part of, connect with, and enjoy is something we wanted to be sure that happened,” said Dylan Vargas, a senior marketing and management student and coordinator of this years Delta Queen.
This year, Delta Tau Delta raised a jaw dropping $6,510.58 for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This money was raised from ticket sales, penny wars, and the contestants individual fundraising efforts during the second round of the completion in November.
The contestants were all members of different Panhellenic organizations on campus and included Danielle Alba from Phi Sigma Sigma, Brianna Varrone from Zeta Tau Alpha, Nicole Banks from Alpha Kappa Psi, Victoria Crescenzi from Delta Phi Epsilon, Shannon Marren from Alpha Xi Delta, and Clare Maurer from Alpha Omicron Pi.
The competition began on Nov. 11, 2015 with several different rounds each week leading up to the main event on Tues. Feb. 17, 2016. The main event in Pollack consisted of three rounds. The night began with three rounds of the popular television show “Minute to Win It” events followed by a question round in which contestants were asked three hypothetical questions about themselves. The third round was the crowd favorite in which each contestant was asked to showcase a special talent they had. Alba painted an impressive picture of Albert Einstein upside down in just six minutes. Next, Varrone serenaded the crowd and Banks demonstrated a make up tutorial on an audience member. Crescenzi created a remix to Justin Bieber’s hit song “Sorry” in which she changed the words to be about the Delta Queen competition. Marren performed a dance to a mash up of hip-hop hits from over the years. Maurer closed out the round with a creative performance of “High School Musical” hits.
Prior to the event, there was a banner contest and scavenger hunt on Feb. 12. On Dec. 2, there was a Penny War competition round which was used to help boost thefundraising round which began on Nov. 11.
“Being able to represent Alpha Xi Delta Iota Nu along with the Monmouth Delts as Delta Queen 2016 is definitely an honor. It gives me an opportunity to work closely with another organization and a philanthropy that means so much to me. The title of Delta Queen 2016 holds a special place in my heart and I am excited to begin this journey,” said Marren, a sophomore biology student.
“While it is supposed to be fun and we invite all to the events to cheer on the participants, the main objective is for the group to raise awareness of the philanthropy so others can become educated and guests know where they are donating money to,” explained Michele Kaplan the Assistant Director of Student Activities for Fraternity and Sorority Life on why Monmouth host philanthropy events.
PHOTO TAKEN FROM Delta Tau Delta Instagram
