Iowa State students took part in the Lip Sync run-throughs at Stephens Auditorium Tuesday.
The Lip Sync run throughs marked a milestone event for the university’s 73rd annual Greek Week. Fraternities and sororities compete against each other annually, showcasing fraternal values.
“I think a lot of what people think about us is from what they see on social media,” Alison Wyatt, a Greek Week executive director, said. “Lip Sync is a great way for us to incorporate our five values of academics, leadership, friendship, civic engagement and social justice, and really portray those.”
Wyatt volunteered as a community service coach for Greek Week during her sophomore year. Her experience as a coach inspired her to step into an executive role.
“I am really passionate about community service, so the ability to make an even greater impact throughout the whole community was super enticing,” Wyatt said.
Another Greek Week executive director, Charlie Kautz, credits Lip Sync as a fulfilling experience for everyone involved.
“I wouldn’t say it’s super stressful, it’s more fun than anything,” Kautz said. “We enjoy having everybody come.”
The event features people from all sorts of backgrounds with varying personalities and interests, according to Kautz.
“These are like high school theatre kids mixed in with the general population because the Greek community is literally everybody,” Kautz said.
Students involved in Lip Sync spend months preparing for the event, practicing frequently for long periods of time.
“We’ve been doing it for three months, three times a week for two hours just showing up and dancing our hearts out,” Maya Wright, a senior in kinesiology and health, said.
Despite being a long process, the Lip Sync practices allowed members of several fraternities to interact and form bonds with each other.
“I think what came with the preparation is getting close with everybody, which I think we all enjoy and what we enjoy the most,” Alex Grant, a freshman in supply chain management, said.
Preparation for Greek Week events involves a ton of planning, leading to substantial obstacles for the directors to overcome.
“We have a lot of dependencies through the university because everything has to get approved through them, so that’s part of the planning process,” Wyatt said. “It takes a lot to do all of this, but we’ve gotten a lot done, which is great.”
Stephens Auditorium hosts both the Lip Sync run throughs and the finals. The venue and the Greek Week coordinators have a contract to run the Lip Sync contests at Stephens Auditorium until 2030, according to Kautz.
“Stephens has been awesome to work with,” Kautz said. “The employees here are awesome and we’ve never had any complaints.”
The Lip Sync finals take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 5, and are open to the public. Kautz encourages people to come out and support the teams.
“If you want to watch a bunch of regular people do a song and dance routine on stage, and especially if you want to look into the Greek community, I’d definitely tell you to come,” Kautz said.
