College Panhellenic raised over $118,000 for CASA of Lafayette County during the CASA Encore dance competition on Wednesday night. The competition’s donations benefit Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA).
Delta Gamma sorority took home first place in College Panhellenic’s (CPH) first production of CASA Encore, winning the most total points after the blood drive, Greek Day of Service Instagram competition, fundraising and the dance portions of the competition.
This is the first year CPH has hosted CASA Encore. Kappa Alpha Theta, the chapter that used to host the event, formerly Theta Encore, was closed last fall.
Pirie Maher, the CPH vice president of philanthropy, coordinated the two-week long event with the help of many Kappa Alpha Theta alumnae and CASA volunteers.
“It’s insane how much money this raised,” Maher said. “Last year, (Kappa Alpha Theta) raised $92,000. I’ll be honest, I did not expect it to raise that much this year.”
The dance portion of CASA Encore allows each chapter to choreograph a themed dance with costumes and props. The competition has traditionally been restricted to only members of the most recent member classes but has been open to entire chapters in recent years.
Some of the themes this year included Star Wars, Beyonce and Scooby Doo. Delta Gamma’s theme for their performance was “And the Encore Goes To…” featuring songs from popular movies and television shows.
At this year’s competition, prizes were awarded to each chapter based on their placement in the competition.
Delta Gamma won a $3,000 donation to their national philanthropy, Service for Sight, which supports schools founded for the visually impaired.
Kappa Delta took home second place, winning a $2,000 donation to Prevent Child Abuse America, and Kappa Kappa Gamma won the third-place prize of a $1,000 donation to Reading is Fundamental.
Marisa Lewis, a freshman member of Chi Omega, participated in CASA Encore with her chapter this year and said she enjoyed getting to bond with the other women in her pledge class.
“With all the hard work and practices and just supporting everyone, it was actually really fun,” Lewis said.
