After months of hard work and planning, five members from different fraternities at Binghamton University came out this weekend to compete in the 23rd annual Greek God Competition.
Matt Beck, a senior in Chi Phi who is working on a double concentration in marketing and international business in the School of Management, was named Mr. Greek God. Daniel Jakaitis, a sophomore of Zeta Beta Tau, was runner-up.
The event is hosted each year by the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. All ticket sales, T-shirt sales and money collected for Penny Wars — a competition between the greek organizations during Campus Wars to collect the most pennies — was donated to the sorority’s charity of choice, The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
A representative from each of the five fraternities involved competed for the title of Mr. Greek God in a pageant consisting of a toga competition, pose-down competition and a formal-wear skit. The competitors were Alpha Sigma Phi’s Andrew Laufer, Zeta Beta Tau’s Jakaitis, Zeta Psi’s Sean Cronin, Phi Kappa Psi’s Luke Baschiera and Chi Phi’s Beck. The Masters of Ceremonies for the event were Sam Schneider of Alpha Epsilon Phi and Tad Wolkin of Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
This year’s event’s co-chairs were juniors Raina Hirschhorn and Dani Lazar, with sophomore assistants Danielle Koves and Jackie Weinstein, all of Alpha Epsilon Phi.
“This year’s event was extremely successful,” Hirschhorn said. “Every single fraternity gave it their all. We had a great turnout, we made a lot of money and had fun.”
Local companies donated money and prizes to support the competition.
As winner of Mr. Greek God, Beck received a $100 cash prize, as well as a one-year Bally Total Fitness gym membership, a $20 gift certificate for Uncle Tony’s Restaurant, a $50 gift certificate for Flashbacks and Boca Joe’s, and a $20 gift card for T.G.I. Friday’s.
In addition, each member of the winning fraternity, Chi Phi, received a $5 coupon for Friday’s. Jakaitis was awarded a $50 cash prize, a $50 gift certificate for Flashbacks and Boca Joe’s, and a $5 coupon for Friday’s.
Coordinating the event was very time consuming, according to the organizers.
“The biggest challenge we faced during the set-up was keeping track of everything that was going on,” Hirschhorn said. “Not only did we have to make sure the rehearsal schedule ran smoothly, but we had to make sure everything else that had to be set up was being taken care of.”
According to Beck, the contestants, like the coordinators, spent months, if not years, preparing for the Mr. Greek God Competition.
“I started training last October after last year’s Greek God,” Beck said. “I went to the gym five days a week for every week without exceptions. Over the summer I went every day before work.”
Andrew Laufer, of Alpha Sigma Phi, also spent five days a week at the gym for the past two years. Laufer’s fraternity won the competition two years ago.
“When we won in 2006, being Greek God became my goal,” Laufer said. “I wasn’t nervous to be on stage, I was just happy it was almost over. I was confident. I am very happy I competed and it was a great experience.”
Two contestants were eliminated before the final round, in which the remaining three participated in a question-and-answer session. The three remaining competitors, Beck, Jakaitis and Cronin, discussed their involvement in BU and their respective fraternities to determine the winner.
The support of their fraternities is very important to the contestants.
“There is no way I could have done it without those guys; we had practices every week,” Beck said. “The dances were with nine or 10 other guys who [couldn’t] dance if their lives depended on it, but they put in a lot of work and got up there; I was very proud of them.”
Although the final money count is not yet available, based on the audience turnout organizers predicted that this year’s event was a success.
Beck said he and his fraternity were very excited about their win.
“It was so much fun to be up there, I still can’t stop smiling,” Beck said. “It was something we all wanted. I had my family there; I wanted to win for everybody. I would do it all again if I could.”