Welcome Week is a great time to meet new organizations all over campus, and the National Panhellenic Council’s (NPHC) Yard Show is the first chance many freshmen get to meet Bradley’s historically Black, Latino and multicultural fraternities and sororities.
On Aug. 25, multiple organizations used a combination of voice-over dialogue and music to tell their stories. With themes ranging from Western to Barbie, to Beyoncé, each organization got the chance to showcase their members’ talent, style and pride at the event.
The center of the performances was a choreographed stepping routine that combined the organizations’ strolls, history and personalities.
Stepping is a dance form that incorporates body slapping, clapping, vocalizations and dance movements. It was invented in the 1940s and 1950s by Black fraternities and has since incorporated acappella singing, tap dance and traditional African dances. Each organization rehearsed for weeks after coming up with their themes, strolls and tracklists.
Bradley’s chapter of NPHC hosts five of the Divine Nine’s fraternities and sororities – Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. and Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc..
They were accompanied at the Yard Show by the campus’ multicultural fraternity and sorority organizations Sigma Lambda Gamma, Inc., Alpha Psi Lambda, Inc. and Sigma Lambda Beta, Inc..
“These organizations exist on campus and it shows [freshmen] people that look like them at a school where not too many people might look like them,” said Alpha Phi Alpha president Christian Epps. “It gives them a safe space and an outlet where they might want to be involved.”
