Phi Beta Sigma wins annual Stepdown

The Epsilon Iota chapter of Phi Beta Sigma – IU’s own chapter of the fraternity – won the 24th Annual Statewide Stepdown competition Saturday at the IU Auditorium. \nMore than 1,000 people showed up to see the members of Phi Beta Sigma step and prove they could host the show once again.\nStatewide Stepdown is a competition in which different chapters of Phi Beta Sigma in the state step for the honor of hosting the show at their school. This was the first time IU hosted the show. \nOther competitions within the show included different step troupes from across the nation.\nStep is a form of percussive dance where dancers use their bodies to make music.\nThe first competition featured three teams competing for $3,000. Those teams included two Phi Beta Sigma chapters, one from the University of Michigan and the other from the University of Mississippi. It also included the Indianapolis chapter of Delta Sigma Theta. In the second competition, IU and Purdue’s Phi Beta Sigma chapters battled it out for the Statewide Stepdown title.\n“It was a great show,” said junior Brandon Bolden. “It was off the chain.”\nThe IU Essence dance team and Expressions Model Troop from Indiana State University opened up the show with different aspects of hip-hop dance and model-walking struts. \n“I thought it was good and unique considering the different variations of hip-hop represented,” junior Lela Belayneh said.\nHosting the show was Leon S. Rogers, Jr., who was in the movie “Barbershop” and HBO’s Def Comedy Jam. Throughout the show, the crowd laughed at Rogers’ jokes and good humor. Role-call of the greek organizations, jokes about parties and music kept the audience in the mood between each performance.\nWith “ohhs” and “ahhs,” the audience yelled out names of people they knew who were stepping. As the teams stepped, audience members cheered when their school’s team mastered a step or held a position for more than 30 seconds.\nEach individual step team featured different themes they included in its routines. Themes included “Memoirs of a Delta,” inspired by the movie “Memoirs of a Geisha,” “The Wizard of Oz,” the classic “nerd to stud” transformation, and “The Matrix.”\nThe audience was a mixture of students from all over the Midwest and alumni young and old. \nA panel that featured a one representative of each participating greek organization as well as Dean of Students Dick McKaig judged the teams.\nThe winning team in the first competition was the Phi Beta Sigma chapter from University of Mississippi and the runner up was the Indianapolis chapter of Delta Sigma Theta.\nThe winning team in the Statewide Stepdown competition was the IU Epsilon Iota chapter of Phi Beta Sigma.\n“It felt good to win again,” said Phi Beta Sigma member Derek Brown.\nIU students screamed and yelled in excitement as the host said IU had won the show again.\n“I am glad that the show will be here during my senior year,” Belayneh said. \nWith a smile, Brown described how it felt to win Statewide Stepdown again and how glad he was that many people showed up to watch. Brown said he is eagerly anticipating next year’s show.