Savannah Sawyer
Assistant Features Editor

The Alpha Step Off event, hosted by the fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha and Zeta Omicron Chapter at Murray State, will take place just before Spring Break.

The event has been put on annually for the past 12 years.

“Alpha Step Off originated in the spring of 2000 by the chapter brothers,” Phillip Hudson, senior from Paducah, Ky., said.

The show is put together every year for a few reasons – one being it helps bring together different organizations on campus.

“The event is all about bringing all the organizations on campus together in an entertaining, but competitive way,” Jessica Stevens, freshman from St. Louis, Mo., said. “It is also a way for organizations to support Alpha Phi Alpha’s philanthropy.”

The other reason the event is put on is to raise money for a specific organization.

“The main purpose is to raise money for March of Dimes for Babies,” Hudson said. “Last year we were ranked third in western Kentucky in raising donations falling short to major corporations such as K – mart and Walmart.”

The event will feature a majority of the sororities and fraternities and a few other organizations on Murray State’s campus facing off against one another.

“We have groups from the Inter Fraternity Council such as Alpha Sigma Phi and Sigma Phi Epsilon to name a couple,” Hudson said. “We also have teams from the Panhellenic Council such as Alpha Sigma Alpha and Alpha Gamma Delta to name a couple. And we have some independent organizations that will be participating as well.”

Each sorority and fraternity on campus participating in the event will learn a choreographed step routine.

“At the event, there are a number of teams who have choreographed a step routine. The routines all have different and very creative themes. For those that aren’t directly involved in the performance aspect of the step show, they mostly come to watch and cheer on their favorite organizations,” Stevens said.

There will be three categories for participants to place in.

“Each of the various student organizations ranging from Greek organizations to residential colleges put on a seven to nine minute step routine and compete to win in one of the three categories and ultimately overall,” Hudson said. “The categories are fraternity, sorority and independent.”

Plenty of hard work and effort has been made to put on this show each and every year it has been running.

“The brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha have put in a lot of hard work to ensure the show will run smoothly,” Stevens said. “Also, many of them have served as coaches for the different organizations participating in the show. All of the organizations have dedicated numerous hours of hard work to perfect their step routine.”

Alpha Step Off will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday in Lovett Auditorium and is open for all community members to attend.

Tickets cost $10 at the door or can be purchased prior to the event.