Hundreds scrambled to find seats with a decent view of the stage Friday night, filling up six sections of the Carolina Coliseum.
The lights dimmed, and Vonyetta, local radio personality and host of the 2013 Homecoming Step Show, climbed the stairs and addressed the crowd.
“Y’all are looking good, looking fly,” she said, as people settled into their spots, ready to watch the performances. “Turn up!”
The final day of Homecoming week brought the annual NPHC event, in which two sororities and four fraternities stepped their way across the stage, competing for the ultimate titles. Each group’s performance followed a theme, chosen by the team.
The ladies of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. set their routine to an out-of-this-world theme, in which they were assigned a task to save the planet 1908, a tribute to the year the sorority was founded. Those in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. also left the planet to be angels, with the help of former Student Body Vice Presidential candidate Courtland Thomas.
The brothers of Iota Phi Beta introduced their routine with a short video to set the scene: a mysterious figure in a mask offered one of the brothers his meal plan in exchange for himself and some friends to play a game. The men were kidnapped by another masked man, and had to step their way out of the sticky situation.
A military-esque series of steps brought the members of Phi Beta Sigma to the stage, followed by the men of Omega Psi Phi, who opted to portray concert security at a Drake concert. The performance concluded with a Drake lookalike taking the stage and addressing the crowd. Kappa Alpha Psi ended the night with a vampire-themed routine, filled with sexual undertones.
Following the judges’ deliberation, it was Alpha Kappa Alpha and Phi Beta Sigma who took first place in the women’s and men’s categories. Delta Sigma Theta and Iota Phi Theta both took second place.
Upon hearing that she and her sisters had one first place, fourth-year biology student Adrienne Anderson could not contain her excitement. She jumped up and hugged everyone around her and beamed at the audience.
Anderson served at her sorority’s step master, a role in which she had the responsibility of building the routine and fine-tuning it for the performance.
“We put so much time and effort into it,” she said. “Everybody came together, and everyone put in their fair share, and the outcome showed that.”