Organized Cheer 2006 was a sight to be seen with the red carpet, lights and streamers. This year’s theme, “UM Present,” had Hollywood movie premieres in mind. The patio was packed with people to see sororities and fraternities recreate the magic of Disney, a topic that had to be covered in their skits and dances.
Six out seven sororities participated as well as eight of the 11 fraternities.
Some of the Disney movies presented include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Marry Poppins, Cinderella, Annie, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King and Cool Runnings.
However, the organizations put a creative twist to the Disney classics. For instance, the Delta Gamma sorority created a more urban rendition of Robin Hood that was titled Robin in the Hood. This act consisted of the traditional tale of Robin Hood incorporated with hip-hop music and dance.
Other organizations interpreted the theme differently. For instance, Delta Phi Epsilon’s act was themed the Greek Globe Awards, their version of the Golden Globe Awards. Their act consisted of a dance and cheer that incorporated events from a pre-award show red carpet event to the actual award show itself.
Aimee Recupero, senior, was really excited about the hard work that her and her D Phi E sorority sisters put into this year’s O-Cheer.
“O-Cheer is exciting, because every year is something different and new,” Recupero said. “We held between eight to 10 practices since we received our music in February.”
Additional performances included step and stroll routines performed by organizations from the Latin Greek Council, who were first time participants in the O-Cheer competition.
The Phi Delta Theta O-Cheer team members said they were really excited about their routine, which was performed entirely by freshman members of the fraternity.
Brad Gage, freshman, of Phi Delta Theta described his first year O-Cheer experience.
“I’m definitely excited,” Gage said. “We put a lot of time into it.”
Not only was O-Cheer a showcase meant to display fraternal creativity and talent, but it was also a showcase for community service as well. There was a silent auction that included $1,500 in spa treatments, a weekend stay at the Marriot Hotel West Palm Beach and a Dell Pocket DJ. All of the proceeds from the auction will be donated to the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
The coordinators of O-Cheer view it as a huge success. They picked the Disney theme for this year’s event because they felt it would encourage the organizations to be more creative and innovative.
“This year we are trying to get organizations to go in different directions,” said Dawn Uscher, co-chair of O-Cheer. “This is where organizations show their pride and spirit for the week and incorporate it with the week’s theme.”
A lot of work was put into the preparation of the event. O-Cheer planning began last semester, which included picking and approving songs and helping different organizations with a theme for their skits. O-Cheer co-chair Cristi Busto describes the event as the most anticipated event.
“People talk about it all year,” Busto said.
O-Cheer is apart of the week’s line up of events for Greek Week which included opening ceremonies, Greeks Give, a coin war, a blood drive, Olympic Day and closing ceremonies. O-cheer winners will be announced then.
Khris Parker can be contacted at k.parker1@umiami.edu.