On April 11, the brothers of Sigma Lambda Beta and the sisters of Sigma Lambda Gamma held their third annual Multicultural Greek Exhibition to cap off Beta-Gamma Week.

The Multicultural Greek Exhibition: Stepping, Strolling and Saluting included stepping and dance performances from Sigma Lambda Beta and Sigma Lambda Gamma along with Sigma Lambda Upsilon, Delta Phi Lambda, Lambda Theta Alpha, Delta Tau Lambda and Lambda Theta Phi.

The groups came out stomping to a large crowd gathered smack dab in the middle of the Kirkhof Center. Despite a late start for the show, the hall still echoed with shouts and applause as each group emerged from the crowd and took the stage.

Most performances started out with a music-free stomping session, with the groups performing well-rehearsed chants and letting the crowd know what their sorority or fraternity stood for.

Eric Villafuerte, a member of the Alpha-Gamma chapter of Sigma Lambda Betta, spoke for his group.

“We were founded at the University of Iowa on April 4, 1986 – we just celebrated our twenty-seventh year,” Villafuerte said to the cheering crowd. “We were founded on the four principles of brotherhood, scholarship, community service and cultural awareness.”

“We may not be the oldest fraternity, we may not be the first fraternity, but we are the largest, the fastest growing … multicultural fraternity in the nation, with 28 states from coast to coast,” he added.

After the traditional stomping and shouting, the groups would move into step dances set to popular songs like Boyz II Men’s “Motown Philly” and Rihanna’s “Diamonds.”

The organizations held a week of events, including a cookout to raise funds for their scholarship, a “Greek life after college” event in which alumni spoke to current students, a discussion on being a part of the LGBT community when it collides with your race or ethnicity, a tour for local high school students and Thursday’s event.

The week was organized in honor of April being the founding month for both Sigma Lambda Beta (1986) and Sigma Lambda Gamma (1990).
bspaulding
@lanthorn.com