By Joana Karoshi | Staff Writer
This year marks the 72nd annual All-University Sing at Baylor, a long-standing campus tradition that draws between 2,000 and 3,000 attendees. Although the competition is technically open to a wide range of student organizations, participation has historically been dominated by Greek life, with only one non-Greek organization competing most years.
Over the past decade, placement trends have remained consistent. Kappa Omega Tau has earned six placements in the last 10 years, followed by five from Chi Omega and four from Pi Beta Phi. The sustained success of a small group of Greek organizations raises questions about what contributes to repeated competitive dominance in an event branded as “all-university.”
Leaders from historically successful organizations point to culture and internal commitment as key factors behind sustained placements.
Prosper senior David Van Dyke is the Sing chair for KOT and said preparation for the production begins months in advance, with brainstorming starting as early as the summer.
“We’ve been planning this for like half a year now,” Van Dyke said. “We start with a blank slate every year.”
Members rehearse approximately 10 hours per week during peak preparation, Van Dyke said. While participation is not mandatory, he said turnout remains high because of the organization’s culture.
“We care more about the effort that they put in and the energy that they bring,” he said. “We get so many people showing up every single year.”
Costuming and production are also internally managed. Van Dyke said choreography and costume design are handled internally, without outside consultants or hired professionals.
“It’s all done by us,” he said.
He also noted that Baylor sets spending guidelines, including a cap of roughly $130 per costume.
When asked why Greek organizations tend to dominate placements, Van Dyke pointed to membership size and attendance expectations.
“I know a lot of other Greek organizations require their members to be at practices,” he said. “There are a ton of people in these organizations and a lot of history. I think all those factors go into maybe more people showing up and caring.”
Van Dyke attributed his organization’s repeated placements to internal standards and tradition.
“We hold ourselves to the same standard every year,” Van Dyke said. “Just giving it our all every single year and going 100% at all times.”
For Sing Alliance, the university’s primary non-Greek participant, preparation follows a different structure.
Abilene senior Trevor Cox, Sing Alliance’s administration chair and president, said planning begins immediately after closing night each year.
“We announce the new chairs’ closing night,” he said. “If they wanted to, that night they could start talking about themes.”
Unlike some Greek organizations, which rehearse up to 10 hours per week, Sing Alliance members rehearse between five and nine hours, depending on their role in the production.
“If you are part-time, you rehearse for five hours,” he said. “If you are full-time … you rehearse nine.”
While all organizations operate under the same spending caps set by the university, funding sources differ.
Sing Alliance members pay individual dues to fund costumes, backdrops and production materials.
When it comes to structural advantages, Cox said Greek organizations have an advantage.
“I would right off the bat say yes,” Cox said.
He pointed to earlier chair selection, built-in membership bases and audience size as potential factors.
“When you have a 400-girl sorority cheering on an act, it just makes it look better, and it makes it sound better to the judges,” he said.
Trevor emphasized that the scale of production is what makes participation meaningful for members.
“Sing can’t happen with a one-man show,” he said, noting that bringing together more than 100 students requires collective commitment.
In an email to The Lariat, Associate Director for Student Activities Sarah Patterson said Sing’s judging and budgeting processes are structured to ensure consistency across participating organizations.
Patterson said 12 to 16 judges evaluate performances across categories, including musical quality, choreography, creativity, theme development and entertainment value.
She said all participating acts are capped at 14 rehearsal hours per week and may spend up to $3,500 on stage sets and $130 per costume. Budgets must be submitted and audited by the Student Productions committee.
Patterson added that participation is open to all student organizations, with registration accepted in the order of submission, up to 20 acts per year.
While university officials emphasize that participation and budgeting guidelines are standardized across all organizations, the results over the past decade suggest that scale, institutional memory and built-in membership may continue to shape outcomes.
For organizations like Sing Alliance, participation is less about chasing placements and more about the experience itself.
Whether more non-Greek groups will enter the competition in future years remains uncertain. Still, the structure of Sing — from registration limits to rehearsal caps — ensures that every organization competes within the same formal framework.
