By Zoe DeFazio, Asst. Arts and Entertainment Editor
Guitars, bagpipes and standup comedy. What more could a sorority want?
Manhattan College’s Sigma Delta Tau chapter hosted an Open Mic Night event at An Beal Bocht Cafe on Thursday, Sept. 29.
The event was also filled with raffle tickets and fun prizes. The proceeds of the raffles were then donated to one of Sigma Delta Tau’s partner philanthropies, Prevent Child Abuse America.
Prevent Child Abuse America is the United States’ largest organization dedicated to preventing and fighting against child abuse.
Many Manhattan College students attended the event and performed various acts such as singing, stand up comedy and even instrumentals such as bagpipes.
Rosalia Cefalu, chapter president of Sigma Delta Tau, had no reservations when An Beal Bocht was chosen as the place for the event by vice president of philanthropy Megan LaCreta.
“This event is for one of the two philanthropies that our sorority supports and I just think An Beal Bocht is kind of like a gathering place with a great ambiance,” Cefalu said.
Cefalu notes that An Beal Bocht is a great place to host events such as Open Mic Nights where students and community members can get together and share a moment with each other.
“We’ve established a really good relationship with the restaurant. So they’re kind enough to let us use their space and their microphone and then, you know, we have the event,” Cefalu said. “It brings them customers and then we do little raffles to raise the money and it’s just really fun. We all get to come together and get to hear some friends singing, and just some of the student performers we have at school like to perform, come and sing and so much more.”
Senior RJ Giannicchi took to the stage in a stand-up comedy routine. With quick-witted remarks, many jokes to spare and a smile, Giannicchi was more than pleased to be a part of the stage and even more pleased to raise money for Prevent Child Abuse America.
“I came here tonight because I craved attention,” said Giannicchi. “No, but for real, it’s great when community stuff happens. It’s great that we can come together and raise money for the children. It’s great that I saw a bunch of people come out and it’s great that we’re doing this.”
Senior Simona Graceffo came to Open Mic Night to support many of her friends performing and singing various tunes.
Graceffo is no stranger to Manhattan College based performing events. She often finds herself attending Coffee House, so naturally, she didn’t shy away from Sigma Delta Tau’s fundraising event.
“I usually go to the Coffee Houses. I love Open Mic Nights, I think they are so much fun and are usually really good because most of the students at Manhattan College are very talented. And I also knew that there was a raffle going and that I could win a prize so I was like, ‘What a perfect combination. Let me pull up.’”
Cefalu hopes to continue Open Mic Night for another semester.
“It’s always been a really cute event,” Cefalu said. “It’s our second semester doing it and we want to keep it going,”
Editor’s Note: Megan LaCreta, the arts & entertainment editor for the Quadrangle, organized this event and is mentioned in the article.