Jacob Konst/Arizona Daily Wildcat Members of the Alpha Chi sorority perform during the first 'So You Think You Can Serenade' competition, hosted by the Kappa Alpha Order. Students were invited to watch the fall 2005 sorority pledges compete for the honor of best song and dance presentation.

Greek board questions event's taste

The Kappa Alpha Order fraternity raised money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association last night, but the members may be facing punishment because they didn't comply with the Greek Life Philanthropy Advisory Board guidelines, an official said.

The fraternity sponsored a serenading contest to raise money for its national philanthropy, but violated two stipulations of the advisory board by advertising the event to only pledge classes and by failing to prescreen the sororities' performances, said Erin Cohen, president of Panhellenic Council.

As a result, the performances were too inappropriate, Cohen said.

The Philanthropy Advisory Board was created after similar problems with philanthropy events occurred last semester, Cohen said.

The members of Kappa Alpha Order repeatedly reminded the sororities throughout the night of the three rules of the competition. They were told they would lose points for profanity and being overly sexual and would be disqualified for any nudity.

"I felt that the lyrics and actions of some of the sororities were inexcusable after they were blatantly told in the beginning of the competition that they were not to do that," Cohen said.

Cohen said she saw an advertisement in the Arizona Daily Wildcat yesterday, which advertised the event to pledge classes, and she received an e-mail from a Kappa Alpha Order member stating they did not prescreen the performances.

But before the competition began, Rob Rothstein, co-chairman of the event, said that the fraternity did utilize a prescreening process.

"I hope it doesn't overshadow all the good that went down (last night) because a lot of great things happened," Rothstein said.

The fraternity will be referred to the Greek Judicial Board and the consequences could range from community service to probation, Cohen said.

While the event will be investigated, attendees said they enjoyed the night of entertainment and winning prizes in the raffle, including a three-day, two-night trip to Laughlin, Nev.

Through donations and raffle-ticket sales, the fraternity raised $432 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and will donate an additional $100 to the organization in the name of Chi Omega sorority, the serenading champions.

"I was so proud of them," said Jenna Piccolo, a physiology sophomore and serenading coach for Chi Omega. "They had the whole room into it."

Kappa Alpha Order's donation will help send a child with muscular dystrophy to MDA Summer Camp, where it costs $600 per child, said Jessica Delfs, program coordinator for MDA.

"It's one week that the kids really look forward to, where they can feel like normal kids," she said. "Even if they can just send one kid, I think that's great."

The fraternity plans to make the competition an annual event to raise money and awareness for MDA.

"This is the biggest event we've done in a long time, and we're ready to make a mark for things other than parties," Rothstein said. "This is just the beginning for our philanthropy events, and they're going to be bigger and better for years to come."