Chi Omega wins War of the Roses

Clad in sequins and futuristic leggings, Chi Omega danced their way into victory to a electronic mix that included Nicki Minaj’s “Starships.”

Last night, over 500 people ventured downtown to the Roxxy Nightclub for Pi Kappa Phi’s annual War of the Roses event.

All eight sororities participated in the dance competition, vying for the grand prize: $500 awarded to the charity of their choice, along with gift cards to Allegro Pizza, City Tap House, Copa Banana and Smokey Joe’s ­— and of course, a rose from PiKapp.

The criteria deciding the winning sorority included quality of the dance, originality, ticket sales and crowd support. Wharton senior and Penn basketball captain Zack Rosen served as the celebrity judge this year.

Chi Omega donated their winnings to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“PiKapp is thrilled,” said College junior and former PiKapp Vice President David Bizer. “We love what the Make-A-Wish Foundation does.”

Wharton sophomore and Chi O team captain Brigitte Ehman said of the sorority’s electronica theme, “We took a totally different route.”

In addition to winning the competition, Chi O also had the highest ticket sales.

Fellow captain and Wharton senior Allie Fumo added, “Every single sister came out to support us.”

Sigma Kappa came in second place and walked away with a $50 tab at Drinkers.

Explaining their schoolgirl theme, College sophomore and choreographer Margot Konig said, “‘Call Me Maybe’ is an excellent song and we knew we needed to incorporate it into our dance.”

In addition to Carly Rae Jepson, Taylor Swift’s “Enchanted” and LMNT’s “Hey Juliet” accompanied SK’s moves.

Engineering freshman Chris Beyer, a PiKapp dancer accompanying SK recounted the horrors of his onstage flip during the performance. “I thought I was going to die, but charity saved me,” he said.

“We wanted to have fun,” College freshman Jillian Di Filippo said of her sorority. “We didn’t take ourselves too seriously.

Delta Delta Delta rounded out the top three. They moved to a mix including Britney Spears’s “Gimme More” and LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” acting out their seven deadly sins theme.

College senior Neil Dubey was one of two emcees for the event and said it was an “absolute blast.”

“No other philanthropy event brings all of the sororities together,” Dubey said. “It’s great to see the Greek community all in one place.”

Event organizer and College senior Justin Reggi said the event raised more than $1,500. The amount will be donated to Push America — an organization that works on projects like constructing accessible playgrounds for handicapped Americans.

“It’s a cool organization because it’s the only philanthropy owned completely by a fraternity,” Bizer said.

“It’s great seeing people care about the philanthropy,” Reggi said. “Everyone takes it seriously and understand what it benefits.”

This story has been updayed to reflect that Dubey is a College senior, not a College and Nursing senior.

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