About 300 students attended the first ever UA Miss Greek pageant Friday night, hosted by Sigma Pi fraternity.

The event raised about $1,000 for the Sam Spady Foundation, an alcohol-awareness organization, said Joe Divita, an electrical engineering senior and president of Sigma Pi.

As part of the alcohol-awareness week, the fraternity invited Sam Spady’s mother and other notable speakers to discuss the dangers of high-risk consumption and alcohol poisoning to the greek community, he said.

Sam Spady, a 19-year-old student at Colorado State University, died of alcohol poisoning Sept. 5, 2004, according to the Sam Spady Foundation Web site.

The event featured women from campus sororities in a “”Miss Universe””-style event, said Casey Fiman, a family studies junior representing Alpha Epsilon Phi sorority.

Twenty women took to the stage to answer questions and share knowledge about alcohol abuse.

“”If (the audience) can see how invested we are to changing the attitude about alcohol, then maybe they will change,”” Fiman said.

Although this was the first Miss Greek pageant, Alpha Phi sorority has hosted an annual Mr. Greek pageant for the past four years to benefit cardiac care.

In 2005, some male participants exposed themselves to audience members and performed provocative movements. As a result, the Panhellenic Council created the Philanthropy Advisory Board, which established new rules and guidelines for greek philanthropic events.

The Miss Greek pageant was less controversial. The women had to answer at least one question about the dangers of alcohol, and sorority representatives prepared all day to make sure they were ready to field questions, Fiman said.

Lauren Blier, a pre-communication freshman and member of Gamma Phi Beta who won the competition, said all the participants answered the questions well.

When asked what she would do if she won the lottery, Blier said she would donate money to AIDS research for Africa because it’s a problem that she cares about.

To improve campus safety, Blier said SafeRide could be offered 24 hours a day or at later hours to accommodate more students.

“”It (the pageant) was better than I had thought it would be,”” Blier said. “”All of the girls were really friendly and supportive. … All of us were doing it for the same reason.””

Along with Sigma Pi fraternity members, men’s basketball player Daniel Dillon served as a guest judge.

Phil Dietz, a public health graduate student, said the event marked the end of Sigma Pi’s alcohol-awareness week.

The fraternity handed out pamphlets about how to promote safe behavior and provided information about to what to do in risky situations, he said.

Overall, the event was successful, said Kyle Hoffman, a pre-business sophomore and treasurer for Sigma Pi.

“”We didn’t know how many would turn out,”” Hoffman said. “”But for the first year, it’s a start.””

– Ari Lerner contributed to this report