2012 AggieFest festivities have begun and students have a lot to gear up for. Checkout the review of the RHA Dorm Step off and dates for events later in the week.

N.C. A&T’s Aggie Fest has arrived and students are more than pleased with the re-vamped activities planned for this year’s annual production.

Planning along with the scheduling of Aggie Fest has been in the works now for some months. The six days of events brings promising fun filled events and socials to students who will be taking finals in a couple of weeks.

The annual festival became extremely popular back in the 80’s, but has taken a back seat the past few years due to uncontrollable issues such as rained-out events.

“I’m really excited for Aggie Fest this year because we have planned six days of events compared to the usual three to four days,” says Christopher Wade, the vice-president of external affairs.

The Residential Hall Association Dorm Step Off started off the week Monday night in Corbett Sports Center.

All dorms except Morrow and Morrison competed in the competition. The overall theme of the show was ‘You Got Served” but the teams had the opportunity to showcase creativity and work with an open concept.

Each team had themes of movies, TV shows and music such as “The Crazies,” MTV’s “Made,” boxing and Barbie dolls. “I really like the different themes, especially the Barbie Doll, boxing and Made themes,” said T’keyah Gray, a sophomore psychology major from Waldorf, MD. The night was filled with different styles and every team brought something new to the stage for the crowd and the judges.

“I think this year’s show was a lot different because I was in it last year and this year I got to sit back and watch,” said Robyn Harris, a sophomore social work major from Charlotte.

The winners of the competition, Cooper Hall got the crowd excited about their performance from the beginning with hardcore stepping, precision and flipping off tables. Their theme was “Year of the Gentlemen” and they feel you can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. Members of the team felt that Cooper has a bad reputation and they were excited about winning. “You can achieve anything that you work hard for,” said step team member, freshman computer engineering major from Columbia, SC, Clarence Houser.

“Cooper did a great job and I liked their performance,” said Gray. Barbee Hall placed in second and Aggie Village placed third.

Tomorrow night, Aggies and Poets will be held in Harrison Auditorium at 8 p.m.

The Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. Stroll-Off Competition will be held on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Corbett Sports Center. Tickets for this event cost $5 leading up to the day and $7 the day of and can be bought at the university ticket office.

This year Iota Stroll-Off Competition was added to the lineup for Aggie Fest for a fresh new event students were not expecting.

“We wanted something different in this year’s lineup, just like we changed the lineup for homecoming this past October,” said Wade.

This year there will be no Step Show during this week’s festivities, however students can temporarily take their minds off of finals and seniors can put the stress of graduation away as they live it up all through Aggie Fest.

One of the biggest changes students have to look forward to during this year’s festivities is the Triad College Music Fest in collaboration with UNCG.

“I think that combing this year’s Aggie Fest concert with UNCG was one of the best ideas for a successful event,” said Corey Merrick, junior and psychology major. “Even though Aggie Fest isn’t as big as homecoming, the two universities are very close in distance and collaboration makes sense since both student bodies usually attend each other’s concerts.”

This will be an outdoor concert held on Saturday at White Oak Amphitheatre of the Greensboro Coliseum.

The concert will begin at 4:30PM and will be headlined by J. Cole. With Cole, accompanied by Big Krit on the main stage, there will also be a Fresh Faces stage for new and upcoming artists that will feature: The Old-One Two Band, Beautiful Experience, Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, 2AM Club and The Foreign Exchange.

“I’m super pleased that A&T has stepped their game up this year by featuring J.Cole and The Sideline Story Tour for Aggie Fest. Cole is one of my favorite artists,” said Ashley Bryant, sophomore nursing major.

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• Latisha Freeman, Contributor