The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority team that is set to participate in this year’s Stroll Off, is more interested in having fun and being part of the larger Greek community than winning.
Photo By: Michelle Ross
Sigma Lambda Alpha sponsors the event, which is in its 10th year. The Stroll Off is a tradition for multicultural Greek organizations, but Theta is only the third Panhellenic sorority to participate.
Strolling is a mixture of stepping and dancing, said Silvia Santoyo, the junior nursing major who is in charge of the Stroll Off.
“It’s a competition where teams come and compete to see who is the best strolling team, she said. “I’m just very excited that Theta is joining. I think they are going to do great.”
Madison Goforth, a junior journalism major, and Mackenzie Heard, a sophomore communication studies major, are the Theta team captains.
They recruited the team and choreographed the moves.
Photo by: Michelle Ross
“We are all extremely excited to participate because it means that our chapter gets to be a part of the broader Greek community,” Heard said.
She said a lot of planning and practice is required.
“There is so much more coordination and skill to continue moving and dancing the entire time,” she said.
Goforth and Heard said they spent hours researching Stroll Offs and watching numerous YouTube videos to come up with inspiration for their choreography.
Heard said she thinks the other Greek organizations at the Stroll Off will be impressed by their moves.
Teams are judged by their originality and if the team dances in a line, said Santoyo.
They are supposed to stay in a line because “it’s supposed to symbolize unison,” said Santoyo. “The line is saying that your organization is together and that this is our story and this is who we are.”
Santoyo and Heard said they would like to see more shared events between the Greek Councils.
There are many initiatives in place to connect the councils, but they haven’t been as successful as she hoped, Heard said.
Silvia said, “All the councils are very separate. We definitely need more events like this where it promotes different councils.”
The Stroll also draws students from other organizations and North Texas campuses.
TCU Wesley and Greek chapters from University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at Dallas, and University of Texas at San Antonio are also scheduled to compete.
Any group with at least eight members can can compete in the Stroll Off.
