The room was packed and the joint was jumping as the National Pan-Hellenic Council put on its annual Greek Fest step show in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union on Friday night.

The event is one of the highlights of the fall semester for many members of Iowa State’s African-American community.

The step show, which highlights the talents and members of the eight historically-black fraternities and sororities on campus, is not just a vehicle for having a good time, it is also a chance to showcase the unity among the different organizations as well as the community as a whole, officials said.

“Greek Fest has been the only event that caters to us as African Americans. It gets us together both greeks and non-greeks alike,” Kappa Alpha Psi treasurer Greg Lewis said.

Jischke and Rollins attend

Although Greek Fest is sponsored by and involves African-American groups, it is by no means only open to African-American spectators. The audience was a diverse representation of the entire ISU community. Blacks, whites, Asians, and Latinos were all in attendance.

Even members of the Iowa State administration showed up, including Derrick Rollins, diversity adviser to the president’s cabinet, and President Martin Jischke.

Jischke, who has been ISU president since 1991, was attending his first-ever step show. Considering the fact that he was supposed to be out of town this weekend, Jischke said he enjoyed himself.

“The meeting that I was supposed to attend this weekend was canceled, so we decided that this would be a great way to spend the evening,” he said.

Jischke commented on the concentration and work that appeared to go into the show.

“First, they look like they are so deep in concentration up there. Second, you can tell how much work they have put into their acts. Thirdly, everyone including the audience seems to be really enjoying themselves,” he said.

Controversy over winners

The Zetas (Zeta Phi Beta Sorority) ended the evening as the last group to perform. They opened with an original tribute to all the fraternities. In the tribute the members performed little skits that resembled the performances of the respective fraternities.

Though the evening is meant to be an exhibition of talent and a chance to have fun, it is still a competition.

When the evening was over only two remained standing.

The defending champions Alpha Phi Alpha and Zeta Phi Beta retained their titles as Greek Fest champions.

But the evening was not without controversy. After the announcement of the winners there was quite a roar of disapproval from the crowd.

Several spectators felt the wrong group was awarded the trophy, even though none knew how the scoring system worked.

Points were given and taken away in several categories such as neatness, language, appearance and time. Several groups could have lost points because they went over the 12-minute time limit.

Various styles of performance

Every organization has its own style of performance, including what could be called signature steps that spectators look for and performers enjoy.

Kappa Alpha Psi members performed while twirling canes and moving across the entire floor. Members of Phi Beta Sigma, who have used canes in the past, performed with paddles this year.

Not everyone uses props, Alpha Phi Alpha and Alpha Kappa Alpha members performed with their bodies as the main element of the performance — arms, legs, feet and hands all moving in rhythmic syncopation.

The men of Omega Psi Phi have a style that can only be referred to as wild organized confusion, with their bodies always in motion and voices elevated and in syncopation with the movements.

Members of Delta Sigma Theta and Zeta Phi Beta proved all eight organizations have members who can wreck havoc on the stage. Exemplifying their womanhood and elegance, they can give any of the hardest-stomping men a run for their money.

The show opened with a performance by the Delteens, a youth group from Ames sponsored by the women of Delta Sigma Theta.

Except for the women of Sigma Gamma Rho, who were not able to perform, all the ISU historically black fraternities and sororities were represented in the performance.

LaTanya Rufus, a member of Delta Sigma Theta and co-emcee of the evening, said the purpose of the evening is to show the togetherness and unity between all of the black greek organizations.

The theme of Friday’s show was umoja, which means ‘unity’ in Swahili.

“Umoja is also one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, [a seven-day African holiday] and it is a concept we should hold deep in our minds and lives always,” she said.