By Catherine Diakou, Staff Writer
Manhattan College’s Greek life organizations have come together to plan a joint formal that will be taking place this spring.
While Sigma Delta Tau (SDT) has been planning and hosting formals for years, it was only recently that Delta Kappa Epsilon (DKE) and Alpha Pi Phi (APP) decided to do the same.
After starting to have separate events going on at once, the executive boards from SDT, DKE and APP all decided that it would be worth trying to combine the events.
“It wasn’t really efficient to do two in the same semester and we built such a great relationship that we thought it was time that we come together and do one,” DKE’s president, Jake Steinweiss, said.
Attendance between two events was also a big issue when it came to separating the formals. Many individuals didn’t want to spend the money to attend back-to-back events.
“We thought it would be easier and less hassle if we just combined it so everyone looked forward to just one main thing as opposed to deciding if they’re going to go to one or both and not having enough money for it,” ] J.J. Lotardo, DKE’s social chair, said.
Although the joint event had been an idea in the past, it ended up coming together this semester with the new executive board members, who were announced this past winter break.
“There never really was an opportunity with our old e-board, it just didn’t come up,” VP of Risk Reduction for SDT, Olivia White said. “It’s a very new thing, we’re just kind of testing out the waters to see if it works.”
Planning the event across three separate organizations was a new process for everyone involved. Lotardo explained what it was like working with the other Greek life organizations.
“It honestly worked out well, it is a little more hectic dealing with more people but with more hands on deck it makes it easier to plan,” Lotardo said.
Steinweiss furthered the conversation, speaking on the financial aspect involved with planning.
“A lot of different budgeting was involved, it was definitely hard to make all of our bank accounts match,” Steinweiss said. “We are all very different-sized organizations but we broke everything down percentage-wise and we were able to come up with a fair number for everyone [each organization] to pay based on the amount of tickets that they’d be taking.”
Both Lotardo and Steinweiss agreed that planning for this year’s event has been going smoother in comparison to last spring.
“It’s a little difficult with the numbers but ultimately, if we can pull it off, it’s going to be a very fun time,” Steinweiss said.
Jamie Robbins, vice president of APP, also spoke about the chance to attend the joint formal.
“I’m excited to put a dress on for once, for school you don’t get many chances to put your heels on, put a pretty little dress on and go have fun,” Robbins said.
With all the work these students have been putting into planning the big event, they’re all excited to see it come together in the end.
“Just seeing it all work out, It’s been a lot of work, no one’s ever done a formal this big,” Steinwiess said. “So just seeing everyone in one place enjoying and having a good time would be very rewarding to me.”
The event will take place at 5th & Mad, a distinguished venue in the center of Manhattan.