Robert Morris University hosted its 40th annual Airband Competition on Friday, April 20th, at the packed UMPC Event Center. Six fraternities and three sororities took the stage to compete for the title of Airband Champions. The night kicked off with a performance from campus favorite, John Tucci. He sang a cover of “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie, and the crowd enthusiastically joined in. Chief Experience Officer of Student Life, John Locke MC’d the event as always, and after he introduced each group, a video played with footage of them practicing and sharing their theme, as well as what winning Airband would mean to them.
The sorority Zeta Tau Alpha was the first group to perform, and their theme was “Channel Z.” ZTA channel surfed to different popular TV shows, including Stranger Things, SpongeBob, Dancing With the Stars, and SNL. The costumes for each channel were perfectly on theme and clearly a well-deserved point of pride amongst the sorority. The performance ended with a photo slideshow of ZTA memories and a dance number with all of the sisters.
The first fraternity to perform was Delta Tau Delta, and their theme was “Project Delt”, modeled after the popular 2000s party movie, “Project X.” Staying on theme, DTD danced to popular 2000s party songs, including “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga, which was absolutely a crowd favorite. The costumes consisted of the stereotypical ‘frat guy’ aesthetic with backwards caps and sunglasses indoors, as well as a few cop outfits. Having a group of police officers break up the party was a good way to switch up the performance for a song. DTD also ended their performance with all of the brothers dancing in one number.
The third overall performance was Phi Mu Delta, with the theme “Quest for the Crown.” This performance was more storytelling-based, likely because PMD has the most theater performers out of any other group. The story followed a prince being banished by his father, the king, and having his fortune read with tarot cards. Under some kind of spell, the prince returns to poison his father and assume the crown. A crowd favorite song from this performance was “Friends on the Other Side,” a wonderful homage to The Princess and the Frog movie. It’s clear PMD had a lot of fun with the medieval costumes, some of which included a wizard, jester, and the respective prince and king outfits. The performance ended with PMD’s version of the Shadow Man crowning himself king and leading the final dance number.
Phi Sigma Kappa was the next fraternity to perform, and their theme was “Bombsquad,” with costumes to reflect that. They had a large chest as their bomb prop, and their crowd favorite songs were Rihanna’s “SOS” and Kesha’s “Blow.” Their performance ended with a literal bang, as the bomb exploded and all of the dancers fell to the floor.
The second sorority and fifth group overall to perform was Delta Phi Epsilon, with the theme “Carnival.” The performance opened with an homage to the popular musical “The Greatest Showman.” There was a large range of costumes, from lions to the white rabbit to the intricate circus master outfits. Throughout the performance, the theme shifted from dark to light. DPE utilized creepy circus imagery, like American Horror Story and It. But they never strayed from the fun, whimsical circus theme for too long. Their crowd favorite song was Rihanna’s “Disturbia,” and they ended their performance with an uplifting beat from “The Greatest Showman.”
Phi Delta Theta performed next, with the theme “Phi Delt Radio.” They had a DJ set prop and a comically large phone to take calls with, which happened a few times over the course of the performance. PDT had costumes that mirrored popular 2000s artists, like Justin Timberlake and Bruno Mars. Their crowd favorite song was Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop the Music,” which was the final song of PDT’s performance.
The next fraternity to perform was Sigma Tau Gamma, performing with the theme “Sigma Tau vs. Y2K.” Their performance was a blast to the past, in 1999, when everyone thought the world would end in 2000. Most of their songs were popular 90’s hits like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” But the crowd favorite was definitely TLC’s “ No Scrubs,” and people even started to sing along. The crowd also loved the Spice Girls’ “Wannabe,” but that may have had more to do with the fact that all of the brothers were wearing dresses. The final song was the 2001 hit, “In the End” by Lincoln Park, signifying the new year.
Alpha Chi Rho went next with the theme “Grannies Gone Wild.” The performance begins with dancers dressed up as old ladies breaking out of their nursing home and going to a club. One of them ends up in jail and has to be broken out. The crowd-favorite songs were “Hey Baby” by Pitbull and “Maneater” by Nelly Furtado. The performance ended with the group returning to their nursing home, Katy Perry’s “TGIF,” while a photo slide show of memories played.
The final fraternity to perform was Kappa Delta Rho, with the theme “Airband Through the Ages.” They had a time machine prop and performed popular songs from each decade from the 80s to 2026, with a stop in 2016 for the Mannequin Challenge. KDR had costumes that perfectly matched each decade, including glittery disco outfits for their “Stayin’ Alive” number. Their crowd favorite songs were “Play Some Funky Music,” by Wild Cherry, and “Livin’ On a Prayer,” by Bon Jovi. The performance ended with the popular Zara Larsson song, “Stateside,” as the brothers arrived back in 2026.
The final group of the night was the Delta Zeta sorority, with the theme of “Survivor.” The entire sorority was split up into three groups that competed through songs. The costumes were traditional “Survivor” garments like the iconic neon bandanas and khaki shorts. The crowd favorite song was “Cherry Bomb,” by the Runaways. There were a lot of impressive props, including a long rope for Tug of War, and the classic “Survivor” fire staffs. The performance ended with all of the sisters dancing in one number.
After the performances were over, it was time for the judges to deliberate. It was likely a very hard decision to make, given that each and every performance was captivating and clearly took weeks of practice. But only one fraternity and one sorority could win, and they were Phi Mu Delta and Delta Phi Epsilon. Their themes were “Quest for the Crown” and “Carnival” respectively. The Spirit of Greek Week and the overall Greek Week winners were also announced. The Spirit of Greek Week was awarded to the fraternity or sorority that showed the greatest amount of sportsmanship and camaraderie during the course of the week. The winner of that award was Sigma Tau Gamma. The overall winners of Greek Week were Delta Phi Epsilon and Delta Tau Delta.
Emotions were high as the night came to a close. DPE sister Emily Protz shared how it felt to win both awards, “This was my first Airband, and to be a part of this whole process, I am so grateful. We worked so incredibly hard leading up to the performance, and to win both the Greek Week Award and the Airband Award is so surreal… Especially since winning both has never been done before, that makes it feel awesome!” Phi Mu Delta President Hayden Krupp, who played the Prince, shared a similar feeling of awe and gratitude, as this is the third year in a row PMD has won. “So much time and effort went into this show specifically. From choosing a super unique theme, to tons of roadblocks ranging from music and story changes, to even just realizing we couldn’t convey things on stage the way we wanted to…. It felt amazing to win for the third year in a row. It’s something that hasn’t been done before on the fraternity side of things… so it felt really special, especially on the 40th anniversary of Airband.” The feeling of pride was palpable, not just from the winners but from every group that put months of effort and hard work into their performances. The recording of Airband 2026 is available to watch on the RMU TV YouTube Channel.
