Christian sorority performs standstill flash mob Thursday in UC

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Bodies frozen in place turned the heads of passersby in the Central Michigan University Bovee University Center Thursday.

The attention was exactly what the frozen bodies wanted.

Ten students supporting Alpha Lambda Omega Christian Sorority performed a standstill flash mob at 11 a.m., while wearing red and purple shirts.

Their goal was to draw attention to the hand-written messages on their shirts which read either, “He loves me,” “He saved me,” or “Ask me about him,” along with a reference to John 3:16.

“The shirts represent no matter who you are and what you do, God loves and wants you to be a part of the family,” said sorority member Elizza LeJeune, a Detroit senior.

The students remained motionless in the Rotunda for five minutes before heading downstairs, where they spent another five minutes frozen in place. Some stood checking their phones. One girl was bent as if tying her shoe.

Detroit senior Melody Brown filmed the flash mob on her iPad. She said it was fun watching people walk by, then stop when they noticed the frozen bodies.

“I saw people doing-double takes,” she said. “They were smiling and looking on.”

Warren junior Mike Wilson was working at Microchips when he caught sight of frozen people standing outside his door. Wilson did not know why they were frozen, but said it was interesting.

“It reminded me of the flash mobs that you see online,” Wilson said. “I also thought it maybe was an art project.”

Steven Lambert, a CMU alumnus from Grand Rapids, said he knew it was a flash mob when he saw bodies in matching shirts freeze. Like Wilson, Lambert said he was uncertain about the message until he saw the verse on the shirts.

“I saw ‘John 3:16,’ so I’m guessing it was some sort of faith-based group,” Lambert said. “I saw it and was like, ‘Oh, OK. Something’s going on.’”

Sorority member Maquia Agnew said the group’s idea for a flash mob came after watching a flash mob video done by Grand Central Magazine. The Ypsilanti senior said they wanted to spread awareness of the Christian message using a similar approach.

Only three of the 10 frozen bodies were actually Alpha Lambda Omega sorority members. Agnew said their group only has four members, and the other seven were friends who came to show support.

Although the 10 students are part of different church groups, they all meet together at 7 p.m. on Tuesdays in the UC’s Lake Erie Room for Bible study.

Southfield senior Dominique Fields is one of the students who meets on Tuesdays, and he said he was glad to come support his friends.

“I feel like it’s good that we don’t have to go to the same church but we can still be friends and share the message together,” he said.