Matt Geringer of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity was crowned the 2010 Mr. Greek God on Friday during the annual bodybuilding contest.
‘It feels great after working so hard,’ said Geringer, a senior majoring in integrative neuroscience. ‘It was a lot of hard work training and preparing skits, and it really came together in the last few weeks with the help of my frat.’
The first runner-up was Alexis Bruno, a junior majoring in political science and history, from Chi Phi, whose fraternity had won the competition the past two years in a row.
In its 25th year, the Mr. Greek God Competition is a charity fundraiser coordinated by the Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority. The event is usually held in the West Gym, but this was the first year that the competition was held in the Events Center.
This year’s participants were Michael ‘Mooki’ Maggi, a junior majoring in biology from Pi Lambda Phi, the second runner-up; Anthony Shapiro, a senior majoring in financial economics from Zeta Beta Tau; Paul Grech, a senior majoring in electrical engineering from Delta Chi; Sal Napoli, a junior majoring in industrial systems engineering from Delta Sigma Phi; Lenny Proskurovsky, a junior majoring in finance from Phi Kappa Psi and Michael Haas, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Theta Tau.
According to AEPhi member and Greek God Chair Marissa Piazzola, a junior majoring in English, the sorority has yet to calculate its expenses to determine how much money was raised for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
According to the foundation’s official website, the foundation works to prevent pediatric HIV infection and to halt pediatric AIDS through research, advocacy and treatment programs.
‘From the night of the show alone SAE, the winning fraternity, raised $2,885 which was the most from any frat,’ Piazzola said. ‘They received the most amount of points possible for that, which is 15.’
The remaining points are allocated to the participant’s essay (15 points), entrance/toga competition (20 points), pose down competition (20 points), formal wear competition (25 points) and question round for the top three contestants (5 points). This year’s judges were Anthony Campo and Kristina DelViscio, both personal trainers from Shamrock Athletic Center, and Jared Kirschenbaum, Student Association president and a senior majoring in political science.
During the entrance and formal wear sections of the event, the fraternities put together skits to win points, commonly taken from movies or YouTube videos. One of the standouts of the night was ZBT’s formal wear skit in which they emulated OK Go’s popular ‘Here It Goes Again’ treadmill music video.
Between the rounds, the Masters of Ceremonies Anne Kassalow, a senior majoring in human development from AEPhi and Andrew May, a Binghamton University MBA student in finance from Pi Lambda Phi, introduced the contestants and roasted the fraternities and sororities present, an annual tradition.
Bruno, who started working out in January, feels that Greek God helps bring the Greek community together on campus.
‘We basically decide who is going to represent us for the contest in the spring a year before,’ Bruno said. ‘I think this is a great competition which brings people together for a common goal and makes [all of Greek Life] feel the Greek God spirit.’