More than 1,000 students showed up to watch participants in a greek step show, held Saturday night as part of the Big Eight Conference on Black Student Government, compete for $4,500 in prize money.

Seven fraternities and seven sororities “stepped” for two hours at C.Y. Stephens Auditorium.

First-place winners took home $1,500 each, second place was worth $500 and third place winners got $250.

For the sororities, Iowa State’s Delta Sigma Theta, placed first; ISU’s Alpha Kappa Alpha placed second; and Iowa’s Sigma Gamma Rho placed third.

For the fraternities, Illinois’ Alpha Phi Alpha placed first; ISU’s Phi Beta Sigma placed second; and Nebraska-Omaha’s Omega Psi Phi placed third.

Stepping is a tradition unique to historically black sororities and fraternities. “Steppers” use synchronized and choreographed dances, step movements and chants.

The eight judges for the Step Show represented schools within the former Big Eight Conference. The judges were chosen for their involvement in diversity issues. Jay Berry, temporary instructor in English, was the only judge from ISU. Berry was chosen for his work in the African-American Studies Program and his position as Black Student Alliance faculty adviser.

The stepping was judged on a 50-point scale. Points were awarded based on showmanship (crowd appeal, enthusiasm, stage presence), creativity (originality, uniqueness), precision (synchronization, rhythm), and appearance (uniformity, neatness). Points could be deducted for vulgarity or the negative representation of other greek members.

After the judging, the teams participated in a unity step.

ISU’s Greg Lewis of Kappa Alpha Psi was one of the steppers. “Our role was to participate in the unity step to show a common theme, unity among the people, even though each [fraternity or sorority] has a different flavor,” he said.

Lewis said that participating in a step show requires “an intense amount of daily practice and a lot of sweat. But the end product is worth it all, even if you don’t win.”

Frank Bell, a staff adviser to the event, said, “I am not any more proud of African-American students today than I ever am because I see daily what they can do. This is what is within all of our African-American students. [We become] more aware — not of race, but about issues and how issues relate to people. You can take out ‘black’ and put in ‘people.'”