The crowd cheered as student models strutted their stuff and
student groups performed Thursday night as part of the UCLA
Panhellenic Council’s philanthropy event, Infusion.
The inaugural event, which took place in Ackerman Grand
Ballroom, was organized to raise money for the Rape Treatment
Center of Santa Monica. All proceeds from ticket and raffle sales
were donated to the center.
The council has sponsored at least one philanthropic event a
quarter in the past, but Infusion was the first orchestrated on
such a large scale, with the involvement of all 11 sororities under
the council, said Sara Merar, Panhellenic Council president and
Infusion assistant director.
“It’s really inspirational for me. We always knew it
was possible, and for the first time, we’ve seen it
realized,” she said.
Merar said she hoped that all the seats in the ballroom would be
filled and that “next year’s event would be twice as
big.” The continuation of the Infusion tradition would depend
on the night’s success, she said.
Although nearly half the seats were empty, audience members
found Infusion lived up to its promise of “fashion, trends,
culture, performance, awareness.”
“For the first annual show, it has a lot of character and
humor and it’s for such a great cause that we really
appreciate all the work that was put into it,” said Daisy
Tsao, a fourth-year psychology student.
The event featured performances by student groups, including
Mikey G. and Dan from Danville, Random Voices, Samahang Modern, Big
Pianist and the G-Strings … and Ben, Emcees, Ed Rhee and Culture
Shock Los Angeles.
Students modeled clothes provided by local clothing stores such
as Cohen Showroom, Planet Blue, Skyla and Monica’s on
Broxton.
The event also showcased comedy bits between performances.
Kathy Santoso, a fourth-year economics and accounting student
and Infusion director, said she chose the name in order to
emphasize the goal of the event: to unite the community and raise
rape awareness.
“We want to show the women of Panhellenic and Greek
(communities) as strong, to bring it together, make people come and
yet teach them about rape awareness,” Santoso said. “I
wanted a very solid word that would describe what we’re
trying to (do).”
The council began organizing a committee for Infusion in spring
quarter 2005, based on an idea from Santoso’s sorority, Kappa
Alpha Theta.
“We have worked with the Rape Treatment Center before and
it made sense as a (group) of women to benefit a rape treatment
center,” Santoso said.
Since 1974, the center has been accessible to students 24 hours
a day for free emergency medical care, evidence collection, legal
assistance and professional counseling services, said Laurie Owens,
campus outreach coordinator for the center. She added that the
center was honored that the council chose to benefit it.
“I think it’s amazing. I’m so glad that
they’re doing this for us,” Owens said.
The center is primarily funded by private donations, Owens
said.