The Annual Greek Gods contest took place in Statler Auditorium last Saturday. The philanthropic event was co-sponsored by Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority and Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.
“It’s a beauty pageant for fraternities, they’ll come out dressed in underwear and its all for the audience’s enjoyment,” said Sarah Rombom ’04, Alpha Epsilon Phi’s philanthropy chair and co-host of the evening.
“It’s a good chance to get involved in doing community activities, it’s important not only to be active in the house, but also in the [Greek] system,” said Evan Wiener ’04, a member of Sigma Chi fraternity.
Fourteen fraternities entered contestants and 12 sororities had a judge representing their houses.
“All I can say is wow, that was quite an experience. The guys were out of control! But it was a lot of fun,” said Lynn Sinkovits ’04, a judge from Delta Gamma sorority,
The competition began with the introduction of the hosts, the contestants and last year’s winner, Michael Jabbawy ’04, from Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Dressed in an army print toga, the expiring Greek God was pampered on stage by Alpha Epsilon Phi’s toga girls throughout the night, by the end of which he was covered in chocolate syrup and looks of wonder from the audience.
The competition rounds ranged from a talent, swimwear, formal wear, joke competitions and then the final question, which determined the winner.
“We started with about 14 guys, then narrowed it down to seven after the talent and swimwear. Then down to three after evening wear,” Sinkovits said.
After the introduction, the first contestant to leave the competition was Josh Goldstein ’05 of Alpha Delta Phi fraternity, who literally dropped out of the competition because he passed out on stage.
“Before the second round, the Alpha Delt contestant decided he didn’t want to continue, so he dropped out,” Rombom commented.
The talent competition performances ranged from Alpha Epsilon Pi’s contestant Adam Caslow ’05 singing “Do it Like a Lady” to the a show from the famed drag queen Lisa with her bicycle.
“Lisa looked like she was having the time of her life,” Margarita Lupin ’05 said. The audience cheered and laughed at the stunt, which raised Caslow’s chances of winning the title of Greek God 2002.
Among other talents, was Zack Smith ’05 from Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity who played Cornell’s alma mater on a kazoo.
Ryan Lupo ’05 a contestant from Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity said, “I want to apologize in advance for this performance — I will remove every article of my clothing, sit here and enjoy,” before proceeding to strip.
Although the audience that packed Statler auditorium was full of enthusiasm, some members of the audience expressed mixed feelings.
“I felt this year’s competition was a lot more tasteless then last year’s. A lot more about people getting up there and getting naked. In the grand scheme of things, it’s all for the cause,” said Adil Ahamed ’04 of Sigma Pi fraternity, who participated in last year’s competition.
“[There was] better turn out [but] worse performance this year,” Ahamed added.
“I saw more male anatomy parts then I would have liked exposed in one evening, but it was overall very amusing,” said Alison Levine ’04 of Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.
The event was judged by representatives from twelve panhellenic sororities on individual opinion bases, with each judge giving scores to the contestants.
“Basically, I gave higher scores to the guys who actually seemed to put a minute of time and thought into it. Anyone can run around the stage half-naked, if you’re going to be naked, at least try playing the harmonica or ride a unicycle at the same time. In order for me to give you a decent score you’ve got to have some talent that doesn’t just involve taking off your clothes!” said Amy Liesenfeld ’02, the judge from Kappa Alpha Theta.
The winner of this year’s competition was Adam Caslow from Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity.
“It was great to win the Greek Gods contest, twice as sweet to keep it in our family,” Caslow said.
“Better than winning is passing it on,” Jabbawy said.
There was some controversy concerning who deserved to win the title.
“We enter a contestant in a form of exhibition. We like to put forward out best member to compete, and to help raise money, but if he were to win there would always be speculation of foul play,” Avi Giladi’s ’04, a co-host, said, “The competition is to raise money for charity, not to raise our egos. The victory is only a minor part of the entire event, and we do not need to win.”
The event raised approximately $2600, which “will be split up between the two philanthropies (The American Red Cross and The Michael A. Padula Scholarship Foundation),” Rombom said.
Archived article by Veronika Belenkaya