University of Georgia students looking for a quiet place to get an early start on their studying for finals may not have found that spot  at the usually quiet Tate Student Center last Friday. Hip Hop beats and Furocious cheers filled the student center as the annual Stroll Like An Alpha competition took place Friday April 21st at the Tate Atrium.

Stroll like an Alpha is an annual UGA event in which girls of the freshman and sophomore class group together with a Alpha Fraternity member and compete to put on the best Alpha Phi Alpha Inspired stroll and dance routine. Founded in 1906, the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity was the first African American intercollegiate greek lettered fraternity. Since their founding, the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity has made strolling a symbol of their culture and presence on each college campus they are active on. What is Srolling? Strolling is the way in which black fraternities and sororities show their unity through lining up and moving in unison with dance like motions.

The annual Stroll Like An Alpha event is typically one of the most popular events for black students at the University of Georgia.  Students participating in the event attend an informational session in early January, and from January until April voluntarily give  Stroll Like An Alpha a huge amount of  attention and time. Freshman Participant Deandra Shields expressed her huge time commitment stating ” I enjoyed doing Stroll Like An Alpha, but its just that I had no time to do anything else. ” Sheilds continued that dedicating so much time to practice was difficult because  ” Stroll Like An Alpha doesn’t go on your resume and you don’t get paid to do it. ”

So the question lingers, why do so many black students at the University of Georgia dedicate their time and energy to the event?  Alpha Member and group leader Will Jones stated ” The purpose of the event is to increase campus involvement and to give students a fun atmosphere to enjoy black life and culture at a predominantly white institution. ”  As the University of Georgia is a predominantly white institution with its black population only making up 7.6 percent of the student population, Junior Salena Araya expressed the events importance stating “events like stroll are so important because they give black students a way to get to know one another better and build a close community on campus.”

Though the purpose behind the event may have been unity. Stroll Like An Alpa was still a fierce competition, with each team leaving the spotlight exhausted and  drenched in sweat.   The seven teams that performed at the ceremony were judged on persuasion enthusiasm,crowd appeal, dress appearance and creativity, however only one could reign victorious. The team escAPE proved to be the most efficient in all of these catorgories and were crowned the 2017 Stroll Like An Alpha champions.

Although partcipant Ahdaysia Williamson’s team didn’t take home the winning title she states “the  competition was a great way to develop and small family and become closer with black UGA.” As the intent behind the event is to unify the black community at the University of Georgia, Stroll Like An Alpha surely seemed to accomplished its goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCOQ93AEGAU&feature=youtu.be