The women of the Alpha Gamma Delta sorority held the their annual Singing for Sami dance competition on March 4 at the Koger Center for the Arts to spread rideshare awareness in honor of their former sister.
The event is held in memory of former USC student and Alpha Gamma Delta sister Samantha Josephson, who was killed on March 29, 2019, upon mistakenly entering a car she believed to be her Uber rideshare.
After her death, Josephson's family established the What’s My Name Foundation to raise awareness of rideshare safety, primarily by encouraging riders to ask drivers for their name before getting in.
Alpha Gamma Delta sisters and other members of USC Greek life gathered to watch their friends perform choreographed dance routines. The contestants included members of Alpha Gamma Delta and other sororities and fraternities. Each act was judged by the Carolina Coquettes dance team, and a winner was honored at the end.
The event is sponsored by Jake’s, East Bay Deli and Uber. Uber served as the presenting sponsor, providing free rideshare vouchers for all attendees to help them get home.
Graycen Russell is a second-year music industry studies student, as well as an Alpha Gamma Delta sister and director of fundraising. She said Singing for Sami is Alpha Gamma Delta's way of honoring its late sister's legacy.
"We wanted to make sure that we dedicated some time to her, so that not only we’re able to bring awareness to the situation of rideshare safety, but also honor her and have the time to talk about her and keep her memory alive,” Russell said.
One way the What’s My Name Foundation advises rideshare riders to stay safe is to use the S.A.M.I. acronym.
The individual letters in the acronym stand for the following: Stop and plan ahead, Ask the driver, "What's my name?", Match the details of the car with those displayed in the app, and Inform a friend about your trip.
The dance competition featured several different acts from USC’s Greek life, including Delta Tau Delta, Alpha Xi Delta and Kappa Alpha Theta. Lucas Silva, a first-year exercise science student, was among the men representing Delta Tau Delta.
“Our fraternity is really close with the AGD sorority, and we both did the Spurs and Struts dancing in the fall," Silva said. "And then one day, we were with some of the AGD girls that were in the Spurs and Struts, and they're like, ‘Oh, you guys should totally come make a team for this because you guys are the best male dancers we've ever seen.'"
The women of Alpha Xi Delta placed second. Their act was boy-band-themed and featured One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful.”
“(Sami was) a girl who was kind of in the same boat as us, who was also in a sorority," said Alpha Xi Delta sister and second-year advertising student Sydney Charles. "It's a personal connection with that too, which is really important for our sorority. It's also a really fun way for us to hang out with other chapters in our Greek life."
The Kappa Alpha Theta sorority placed first. Its performance featured “The Schuyler Sisters” from "Hamilton," “Fergalicious” by Fergie, and “Black & Gold” by Sam Sparro. It was the sorority's first appearance in Singing for Sami.
“So kind of an overarching theme of ours is representing Theta pride,” said Kappa Alpha Theta sister and second-year accounting and marketing student Lauren Arthurs. “Theta is all about representing women, empowering women. So that's why we decided to go with 'Hamilton,' because 'Hamilton' does a great job of lifting up women and talking about rights … so we chose that to be kind of our bulk of our music."
Singing for Sami ended with $25,952 donated to the What’s My Name Foundation. To donate or learn more about the foundation, readers can visit whatsmyname.org.
"It's just a fun event overall, a feel-good event to bring the community together," Russell said. "We have different organizations who are a part of the performances tonight, and it will just be a really great way to spread the awareness but also have a good time together."