Alpha Omicron Pi held its annual Mr. Fraternity pageant show at the Performing Arts Center on Sunday, May 19. With members from 13 fraternities competing, they raised more than $10,000 for their philanthropy, the Arthritis Foundation.
“We found that this was the best way to engage a lot of Greek Life into our philanthropy event,” Ava Diefenderfer, Director of Philanthropy for Alpha Omicron Pi, said. “We saw a lot more people than we usually do this year, which was awesome.”
Owen Gresko, a statistics freshman from Carey, North Carolina, won the competition for the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. Nominated by a number of his fraternity brothers to participate in this event, he said he saw it as an opportunity to have fun and show some talent.
Participants were judged based on three categories: Q and A, talent, and lip sync/dance. Five judges – composed of Alpha Omicron Pi members – made the final decision. The winner was given $200 to donate to a charity of their choice.
“I really like how Mr. Fraternity is able to combine fundraising and fun,” Gresko said. “Not only fun for the participants, but fun for everybody that was involved.”
Gresko wowed the judges with his thoughtful Q and A answer, as well as receiving an overwhelming reaction from the audience when lip-syncing to a song from the hit movie, Pitch Perfect.
“I knew a lot of the girls would like our dance routine to the Pitch Perfect song,” Gresko said. “But when Ava said my name and said we won, I didn’t expect it at all.”
The organization he chose to donate the $200 to was the Special Olympics, one of Phi Sigma Kappa’s philanthropies. Gresko said that Phi Sig has worked with this foundation since being instated as a chapter at Cal Poly
“A lot of us play sports, and we want to be able to give those opportunities to people who might be challenged or disabled in some ways,” Gresko said.
The Chi Psi chapter of Alpha Omicron Pi at Cal Poly is not the only branch to put on a male pageant show like Mr. Fraternity. Chapters of Alpha Omicron Pi nationwide fundraise with events like these in hopes of a fun and interactive way to raise money for their philanthropy, according to Diefenderfer.
This was the first year Alpha Omicron Pi held Mr. Fraternity at the PAC, and the floor was sold out. They raised $10,530.
“The money goes to a lot of arthritis research and programs that help individuals in the last stage of arthritis where they lose a lot of mobility,” Diefenderfer said.
Each fraternity also had to raise as much money as they could individually for the Arthritis Foundation, which the judges weighed into their decisions.
“I love fundraising,” Diefenderfer said. “I set up a lot of pre-drafted emails [the fraternities] could send around SLO and texts that they could send to family and friends.”
This was the second year in a row the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity walked away victorious.
