Nebraska students and others from surrounding campuses joined the members of Sigma Psi Zeta Sorority, Inc. for InvAsian Under the Sea on Saturday, March 11. The sold-out talent show featured dance groups, singers, instrumentalists and strollers.

Sigma Psi Zeta required each of the 13 performers to submit a video audition to compete. Performers came not only from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln but from the University of Iowa, the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) and the community as well.

Attendees enjoyed a buffet of Asian food catered from local restaurants and took pictures in a photo booth before the performances began. Lisa Ath, a sophomore member of Sigma Psi Zeta, and Simon Wang, vice president of Asian American Student Union, emceed the event.

After the performances, emcees asked audience members to vote for their favorite performance while judges Sigma Psi Zeta alumna Huyen Lam, Assistant Director for OASIS Moises Padilla, Internal Vice President for ASUN Laurel Oetken, President of Sigma Psi Zeta Tiffany Truong, and Invasion Co-chairs Ann Ngo, Tiah Northway, and Lillian Nguyen selected the winners. Play with Fire, a Korean pop dance group, won the Fan Favorite Award.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln sophomore Binisha Maharjan’s Bollywood dance placed third. In second place was the UNL Hip Hop Dance Club. The Flowers of UNK won the competition with their Korean fan dance.

“I appreciate seeing talent," said junior Fatima Amadou who attended the event. "It’s really important. It puts you in a good mood.”

Sigma Psi Zeta hosts the event to bring cultural awareness and understanding to a diverse audience. This is their third consecutive year hosting InvAsian, which is the sorority’s biggest fundraiser for future events. 

“Our organization would like to see it get bigger and bigger with more participants as well as diverse attendees,” said Ann Ngo, co-chair of InvAsian. “Many of our attendees are people we know, and we would love to expand our audience.”

Sponsors for this year's event included Student Affairs' Pepsi Diversity Program Fund, the Office of Academic Support and Intercultural Services, Residence Hall Association, Memebox and Pho Factory Vietnamese Restaurant.