Skit Knight showcases students' skills, homecoming spirit

Knight spirit echoed throughout the UCF arena during the 2011 Skit Knight on Wednesday. Energy was high as 12 student groups battled it out for bragging rights, trophies and points for the overall Homecoming competition.

Skit Knight is one of many Homecoming events along with Comedy Knight, Penny Wars and Spirit Splash.

"The Homecoming Executive Board has been working on putting this show together for about 6 months now,"

Charles DiNunzio, student director for the Homecoming Executive Board, said. "Jerry Estrada is our Skit Knight director and he has been working on it the hardest out of all of us."

Registered student organizations including fraternities, sororities, honor societies and other small clubs performed a mixture of school-spirited skit material and choreographed dances, DiNunzio said.

Some students performed ballet, hip-hop and Latin dances. Others spoofed popular culture including "Men in Black," "Jeopardy," Katy Perry and Rebecca Black.

"It is one of our highest attended events, and a perennial favorite," DiNunzio said.

A panel of five judges scored the performances on UCF spirit, creativity, storyline and overall performance. The judges included a collection of UCF faculty, alumni, and special guests from the community.

Skit Knight auditions occurred on Sunday, Sept. 25 during an intense tryout process where teams are judged on their preparation, script completion and performance readiness. Groups are expected to have 75 percent of their members at tryouts and have everything hammered out pretty well. They are then given scores, those scores are averaged and the highest 12 advance, DiNunzio said.

"I think the amount of time it takes to prepare these skits really makes the competition that much more intense," DiNunzio said. "People have poured weeks and months of practice into these skits--they finally get to see the end product of all their hard work."

Alexa Delgado, junior English literature and history major, performed as Glycerin in the skit "Peace, Love, UCF: A Knightro/Glycerin Love Story." Delgado is in Chi Omega, which was paired with Alpha Epsilon Pi and Delta Lambda Phi.

"I really want to try to start getting more involved and this gave me the opportunity to do so. I'm the assistant to my sorority's homecoming chair so I was able to really see all the planning involved," Delgado said. "It made me realize all the hard work everyone puts into everything."

Even though Skit Knight is a competitive Homecoming event between teams, school spirit was evident throughout the entire night.

"I think a little friendly competition is good for the UCF community," DiNunzio said. "It is a time where everyone can come together, but still compete to be the best. "

Megan Oliveri, senior graphic design and criminal justice major, went to support her roommate who was in Alpha Kappa Psi's skit, which spoofed the videogame "Call of Duty" with a dance battle.

"It was fun seeing the creativity that everyone had in their skits," Oliveri said. "I really loved Alpha Kappa Psi's skit, and also whoever did the ‘Men in Black' skit."

At the end of the night, best costume and best overall performance went to the Honor's Congress team, whose skit revolved around ‘90s popular culture. Best dance was awarded to Lead Scholars.

"Skit Knight lets organizations be creative and show their school spirit in different ways than just tailgate," Delgado said. "The groups have to work to produce something that can illustrate to others how they see what it means to be a Knight."