This past Saturday, huge crowds gathered in the Ferguson Center for the Arts for STROLL – a night of spectacular performances from many different dance groups, each representing a campus organization. STROLL was hosted by Christopher Newport University’s Upsilon Beta Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha – the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity.
STROLL is a truly massive event that aims to impress students from all across campus with competition, while also encouraging students to vote. STROLL is an acronym, which stands for Strategic Partnership, Traditional Awareness, Register to Vote, Organizational Impact, Legislation and Lifelong Commitment.
STROLL describes itself as a high-intensity competition, philanthropic fundraiser, and a voter awareness seminar. While the competition takes center stage, this event raises voter awareness through providing a platform for several speakers throughout the show who explained the importance of voting, especially in this year’s local and state elections. Meanwhile, the ticket sales also contributed to an almost $5,000 dollar donation for the March of Dimes – a nonprofit dedicated to the physical well being of moms and infant children.
The event enjoyed the support of CNU, the Ferguson Center staff, Campus Activities Board, and the campaigns of several local candidates including Virginia Senator Monty Mason. Senator Mason, who is himself a CNU Alumni, spoke to the importance of this event for raising voter awareness and to help great causes. “[STROLL] makes [CNU students] aware that they are such a big part of this community and encourages them to vote and have their voice heard,” Mason said.
STROLL usually takes on a particular theme that is both relevant to the current year and contains political implications. STROLL 11 was themed about Artificial Intelligence, a balance of optimism over its impressive capabilities and an underlying concern over its replacement of human skill. Many of the groups sported styles that had a sleek, futuristic aesthetic, including opening narrations through an AI virtual assistant named Cleo.
The competing groups had prepared for weeks ahead of time, with groups like KPOP Choreography bringing their usual flair from years of practice, while others overcame relative inexperience with a deep connection among their dancers. “STROLL this year was an incredible experience,” said Lauren Dobson, a junior and member of Phi Mu sorority. “It’s really fascinating to see organizations here at CNU show their connection and bond through dance.”
Each and every organization came out with dance numbers that combined skilled choreography, incredible fashion, and intense music that electrified the audience. Still, at the end of this competition there could only be three winners. In what was a very close vote, Alpha Sigma Alpha was voted third place, Phi Mu won second place, and Gamma Phi Beta took home first place.
“I was so impressed by every organization’s dances,” said Abigail Mannon, a senior and member of Gamma Phi Beta. She went on to say that, “STROLL is an amazing event on campus that really brings together the CNU community. I’m proud of my sisters for all the hard work they put into their dance!”
The huge scale of the event was only matched by an equally massive audience, with some reported figures estimating that nearly 2,000 students and members of the community directly purchased tickets. Alpha Phi Alpha succeeded in putting on their biggest event over STROLL’s 11 years of history. APA did this through effectively engaging many campus organizations and through keeping up the hype around STROLL 11 since its announcement at the start of the semester, and then finally delivering on these promises with amazing performances from all involved.
Quinn Hardy, a senior and member of Alpha Phi, expressed exactly this, “I totally understand why STROLL is the biggest event on campus every year. The performances were amazing and the energy was unmatched,” she said.
