Gala mimics Cathedral country club

‘ ‘ ‘ It was a swanky Sunday on the Cathedral Lawn where students donning pearls and argyle… ‘ ‘ ‘ It was a swanky Sunday on the Cathedral Lawn where students donning pearls and argyle partook in a variety of country club games while at the Gala at the Cathedral Lawn. ‘ ‘ ‘ This first-time event, hosted by the Pi Kappa Alpha and Phi Delta Theta fraternities, raised funds for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute. ‘ ‘ ‘ Spread across the area designated as the east lawn were games of bocce, badminton and croquet. Teams played several rounds, eventually advancing to the finals. In all, more than 70 teams signed up beforehand, whose registration fees went directly to the Cancer Institute. ‘ ‘ ‘ On the first bocce court, a team of four girls took turns bowling their bocce balls closest to the jack, the smaller ball. They were decked out in red, peach, yellow and black sundresses complete with rubber flip-flops. ‘ ‘ ‘ The lawn was awash with pastel prints, popped collars and demure necklines as students wandered from event to event. Groups clumped along the sidewalk talking and goofing off. ‘ ‘ ‘ Over at the third badminton court was a group of men hanging around on the sidelines. Ben Levy, a member of Phi Delta Theta, explained that they were waiting to advance to the semi-finals. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’ve been training for this for months,’ he said. ‘I wake up every morning, eat my Wheaties and hit the badminton courts.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ Perry Servedio, the chief event officer, said the event was conceptualized in April. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We don’t have any events that are outside that we can get dressed up for,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Servedio said the charity event was a reason to get students ‘out here having a good time and raising money.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ The area designated as the west lawn had a tent offering shade, bottled water and Eat-N-Park cookies. DJs from Pitt’s radio station, WPTS, played music on location. Later in the day, student musical ensembles the VoKols, Sounds of Pleasure, Walk of Shame and others performed for the crowd. ‘ ‘ ‘ Sean ‘Spiffy’ Styles, the singer for Walk of Shame, said, ‘We play stuff for the college crowd, so you got your ‘Brown Eyed Girl,’ your ‘Sweet Caroline’ and your ‘Don’t Stop Believing.” ‘ ‘ ‘ The band’s drummer, Dan Aluise, was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha and rallied his band out to help the cause. ‘ ‘ ‘ But there weren’t just greek groups at the event. Servedio said that 56 percent of the teams registered were non-greek. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘We spent a significant amount of time recruiting non-greek organizations,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Michael Toussaint, president of the Caribbean and Latin American Student Association, sat at one of the tables taking a break before qualifiers. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I never knew bocce could be such an intense game,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ Sitting next to him was another member of the organization, Kearn Mitchell. ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘I’d like to see more sports integrated and more students participate, but it’s a great turnout so I can’t complain,’ he said. ‘ ‘ ‘ By the end of the day’s affairs, Nicholas Dell’Omo and Steve Pede were declared the winners of bocce, Alexander Lash and Derick Stalker won croquet, and Lucas Wexler and J. J. Schwartz took first place for badminton. ‘ ‘ ‘ However, there was also a competition of another kind: for best dressed. ‘ ‘ ‘ It was judged by the Fashion Business Association. The FBA deemed Laura Seman the best-dressed female, Nicholas Dell’Omo the best-dressed male, and Nicholas Jellots and Michael Steimling the best-dressed team.’ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘ Editor’s Note: Seman is the inside sales manager on The Pitt News’ business staff.