Festivities encompassed more than beauty queen pageantry at the annual Ms. Greek pageant Tuesday night, raising more than $10,000 for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
“This is how we prove to the community that we’re not your stereotypical greek community. This is not ‘Animal House’; this is not ‘Old School.’ We do things right here at the University of Oregon,” said sophomore Ryan Keep, the philanthropy and community service chair for Beta Theta Pi and the pageant coordinator.
The pageant met its goal of raising more than $10,000 from donations and T-shirt sales alone. Not included were funds from $6 tickets sales for the event.
Organized by Keep’s house, the competition was started four years ago by Beta Theta Pi member Dan Scheinman as a philanthropic activity to raise money for MADD. Over the past three years, the pageant has raised more than $20,000 for the organization.
Scheinman, currently a fifth-year senior, said the purpose of Ms. Greek is to facilitate “a double-pronged approach” to helping MADD by holding a fundraiser for the organization while providing a platform for MADD members to raise awareness about their cause.
MADD has a very specific mission, said Lois Joiner-Harvick, a spokeswoman for the organization who spoke at the pageant.
“To stop drunk driving, support the victims of this preventable crime, and to stop underage drinking,” she said.
Contestants for Ms. Greek did their part for the fundraiser by traveling around Eugene to get donations from local businesses and selling T-shirts before the event. Pageant members from eight sororities on campus participated; one representative from each house was chosen through a vote by their peers.
The festivities kicked off at 7:30 p.m. in the EMU Ballroom with opening dance numbers from the contestants. Each woman then took the stage for the talent portion of the competition. Pageant members sang, danced, played violin and tickled the ivories to the tune of Bach, leading sororities to swell with screaming applause as their house representatives left the stage.
Next came a brief presentation of each contestant in formal wear, which segued into a question and answer section held by a Cody Covey, member of Beta Theta Pi. Among other inquiries, girls were asked to describe their most meaningful greek moment, and what they can do to alleviate problems facing the Greek system.
While the panel of judges deliberated, Joiner-Harvick took the stage and talked about the dangers of underage drinking and drunk driving to the approximately 200 college students in attendance.
With the votes tallied, contestants were called back up to the stage, and Stacey Ford of Kappa Kappa Gamma was crowned the winner of this year’s Ms. Greek pageant.
Ms. Greek takes a stand against drunk driving
Daily Emerald
February 28, 2006
Brittany Ewalt from Chi Omega performs “Some Days You Gotta Dance” by the Dixie Chicks for the annual Ms. Greek competition Tuesday night in the EMU Ballroom.
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