From the court to the stage, Justin Robinson remains a campus celebrity after winning Alpha Omicron Pi’s “So You Think You Can Dance” competition.
So You Think You Can Dance raised over $1,300 for the Arthritis Research Foundation. Since the organization’s partnership with the Arthritis Foundation in 1967, Alpha Omicron Pi has raised over $3 million nationally.
“The whole concept of this event was very cool. The interactive wheel and improvisation aspect was different than other events we’ve seen and it kept it entertaining,” said Ali Hart, junior education student.
There was a massive colorful wheel on the screen that consisted of several different dance moves from over the years. Each contestant came onto the stage oblivious to what dance they would have to perform and spin the wheel. Once the wheel stopped spinning, a brief video of the selected dance would play and the contestant would then have to dance that move.
The layout of the event was broken down into three sections. It began with all of the members dancing once. After every participant was given the chance to show off their skills, the judges counted their current scores and the people with the five highest scores moved on to the next round. In the final round, there were only two constants battling it out for first place.
The contestants in the final round were Justin Robinson and Natorye Miller. In addition to them, the other three contestants who made it to the second round of the competition were three members on the cheerleading team, Lauren Mrazik and Ashley from Delta Phi Epsilon, and Joe Govea from Sigma Tau Gamma. The remaining contestants were Sam Marella and Vicki Cook from Alpha Sigma Tau, Matt Manheimer and Georgio Curtis from Tau Delta Phi, and Shannon Marren, Dana D’Agostino and Megan Ferguson from Alpha Xi Delta.
Dan Pillari and Rob Panasuk from the University basketball team hosted the event alongside Jen Dougherty from Alpha Omicron Pi. While the basketball team has played an increasingly large role in recent Greek life events, this is the first time they have taken over the stage as hosts.
“Through cheerleading, I have a good relationship with Dan and Rob, so we balanced each other out well and it was really fun,” said senior communication major and co-host Jen Dougherty. “Overall, I think the event went well. We had some technical difficulties, but it worked out and was a success.”
Over the past year, Monmouth University’s Greek Life and Athletic department have been working together to bridge the gap between the two. There have been several “Greek Nights” basketball games in which all of Greek life is encouraged to attend and show support for both the men and women’s basketball teams.
“With Greek life constantly getting a bad reputation in the media and on campus, we have been trying to build better relationships with other clubs and athletics on campus. We love going to games and supporting our teams, so seeing the basketball team coming and participating in our events is awesome and helping to boost our school spirit and unity on campus,” said Jenna Hersh, former Greek Senate vice president.
“In the past, the fraternities and sororities reached out to their friends in fraternities and sororities to participate because they knew they would be in the audience anyway. Now our organizations have been branching out and expanding the network of support our groups feel,” said Michele Kaplan, the assistant director of student activities for fraternity and sorority life on campus.
With the semester coming to an end and the majority of Greek events passed, hopefully this support and unity between Greek life and athletics will continue to grow as the student body returns in the fall.
