Taking inner beauty to a new level, Phi Delta Epsilon (PhiDe) will be bringing the human insides out with a medical twist on the traditional fashion show.
On Monday, April 11 at 7 p.m., PhiDe will be hosting their annual Anatomy Fashion Show to raise money for Nicklaus Children’s Hospital and educate students on the many body systems.
“It’s just kind of a way that we all come together as a chapter and host this event for not only ourselves, but also the UM student body and of course, most importantly, the kids in the Nicklaus Children’s Hospital,” junior microbiology and immunology major Madeline Culbreth said.
As the Vice President of Finances for PhiDe, Culbreth has overseen the event planning process to promote a strong philanthropy element while still making the show fun.
“For someone who doesn’t know, it sounds a little weird. We basically take our members and paint different body systems on them,” Culbreth said. “The show itself is all of these members coming and walking down in a runway fashion show style.”
The event is hosted by PhiDe, an international medical fraternity that works to connect UM students studying various areas of STEM. While modeling and painting is open to all students, it is the PhiDE members that make the Anatomy Fashion Show a reality.
“I think something that’s really special about this is that all of our members really come together and try their best to support the cause in different ways in any way they can,” Spinner said. “Everyone puts in their own skills and time to make the event intricate and cool.”
This year’s show, themed “Anatomy Idol,” will bring out the competitive side of the attendees and models. Featuring a live donor drive, audience members will be able to vote for their favorite models while a judge panel consisting of STEM professors chooses the winners.
“It’s going to be such a big night,” said sophomore health science major Erin Spinner. “I don’t think people realize that we have a host, we have these judges and just all these crazy things.”
Senior exercise physiology major Karan Prasad modeled for the show in 2019 and 2021 as the cardiovascular and nervous systems.
“I loved it,” Prasad said. “It’s an exciting time. Everyone’s cheering as you’re walking through the stage. It’s a really fun time and it’s for a good cause.”
While bringing in an education component, the main focus of this event is to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network, the selected charity of PhiDe. This is their main event for the spring semester and main platform to raise money for the organization.
“We really just want people to recognize that while philanthropy is so important, we want it to be correlated with fun and having a good time. You can have fun while doing philanthropy, you can have fun while donating money and raising awareness for a really good cause,” Spinner said.
PhiDe is hoping to bring in an audience of over a hundred outside students in addition to all their members in attendance to raise as much money as possible.
“I don’t know how you wouldn’t enjoy it,” Prasad said. “You’re not wasting your money. It’s going somewhere good and either way, you’re going to have a good time.”
Interested students can purchase a ticket at the following link.