Alpha Xi Delta hosted its annual Xi Man philanthropy event Oct. 12 in the Student Center Ballroom to raise money for autism research and awareness.

Senior finance major and Alpha Xi Delta sister Bailey Wiland said Xi Man and other fundraisers this past week raised $20,800 for Autism Speaks, surpassing the sorority’s goal of $18,000.

Wiland said Alpha Xi Delta has been fundraising for Autism Speaks since 2009.

Madalyn Etzel, public relations vice president for Alpha Xi Delta, said this year’s theme for the Xi Man competition was “Bad to Xi Bone.”

“That can be anything from [dressing up as] super heroes or cops and robbers,” Etzel said.

Eighteen sororities and fraternities performed in the event.

“There was great enthusiasm and participation this year from both the fraternities and sororities,” Wiland said.

Xi Man began with each fraternity and sorority doing its own choreographed dance and skit, incorporating facts about Alpha Xi Delta and Autism Speaks. Most skits were themed comedies.

After the final group performed, one representative from each chapter answered questions on stage about Alpha Xi Delta and Autism Speaks.

A panel of judges representing the Alpha Xi Delta chapter and Autism Speaks scored each participating fraternity and sorority and announced awards.

“The [overall] winners are crowned based on their theme, creativity, participation and most importantly, fundraising,” Etzel said.

The winners of each of the four categories were announced on stage.

The overall performance winner was fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon with a Dora the Explorer-themed skit.

The overall sorority winner was Delta Zeta with a dance routine involving a girl who wanted to be in a sorority and her future sisters helping her achieve her goal.

Alpha Epsilon Pi took home both the overall fraternity award and the fundraising award with an Elvis-themed skit.

Etzel said the event entertained and excited the audience.

“I run the Twitter account for our sorority and I kept getting notifications from other Greek members tweeting about how excited they were to see everyone perform,” Etzel said.

The competition was open to the public to donate to Autism Speaks while rooting for their favorite Greek members to win for a good cause.

“We filled up the entire ballroom, which hasn’t happened in a long time,” Etzel said.

Alpha Xi Delta sisters were excited about this year’s turnout and for the hard work that went into the event, Wiland said.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better night,” Wiland said.

Contact Chelsea Kiko at [email protected].