CAITLIN WHITE
Assistant Living Editor
As the excitement and energy for Greek life and Recruitment finally wraps up, the underlying characteristics and purposes of the sororities and fraternities are revealed. These organizations of men and women band together in their own unique philanthropic ways to provide for a need or support a cause in the community.
Philanthropy season has hit Pepperdine in full force, and news of each event will soon be plastered across campus in flyers, advertised on t-shirts and proclaimed from info tables in the cafe. October offers many different opportunities, not only for Pepperdine’s Greek community, but for the entire community to get involved.
The kick-off event for Greek philanthropies is “Ante Up”, a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament hosted by Kappa Alpha Theta that will be held in the Cafe on Oct. 1 at 9 p.m. Theta Philanthropy Chair, junior Gloria Sheller, said the event is much more inclusive than many Greek events.
“Ante Up involves not only Greek groups, but sports teams, staff members; Pepperdine people in general,” Sheller said. “It is open to anyone who wants to come, and it is held right in the cafeteria. It is a fun thing to do on a Monday night.”
Ante Up teams consist of three people each, and the entry fee is $30, but all of the proceeds go directly to charity. Theta’s Philanthropy, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for children will benefit from the funds raised Monday. The program is a network of volunteers who serve as mentors and representatives for neglected and abused children.
If you aren’t interested in getting together a team, you can still go and watch the event. The tickets cost $5 and include drinks, snacks, and a raffle ticket to win one of the various gift certificates donated by vendors around Malibu.
The second week of October holds an event that will appeal to Pepperdine’s trend-setters. The annual Delta Delta Delta philanthropy, Fashion4Life, will be held Thursday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. in Elkins Auditorium. Tri-Delta Junior Jessica Gray is in charge of running the show this year and said Pepperdine and Malibu have shown great support for the fashion show in the past.
“Local businesses donate clothes for the models to wear and we also have a raffle. And our sister junior Alex Magiera is a Tri-Delt and recently underwent five months of chemotherapy will be speaking,” Gray said.
The fashion show is another event in which all of Pepperdine can be involved; the models for the show consist of two representatives from almost every group on campus. Tickets will cost $5. All the proceeds go directly to St. Jude’s Hospital.
The Sigma Chi fraternity holds a week-long philanthropy dubbed “Derby Days” following Fashion4Life, during the week of Oct. 15th through 19th.
The week consists of several activities that the sororities compete in to earn points in an attempt to win “Derby Days.” Also, each Sigma Chi is given a “derby,” an article of clothing, and the girls go around trying to earn these from the guys. The culmination of the week is a Powder Puff football game where the girls fight it out on the field for their final points.
Senior Mike Viola explained why the fraternity’s philanthropy, City of Hope Cancer Research Center is so important to the Pepperdine chapter.
“A couple of our brothers have had family members who’ve gone through stuff at City of Hope,” Viola said. “So we always work hard to do our best to raise money for them.”
Non-Greek students can also participate through buying clothing that Sigma Chi will be selling during the week of “Derby Days”, or by donating to City of Hope and giving their points to a friend’s sorority.
Another event during the same week as Derby Days, is the dessert buffet extravaganza put on by Pi Beta Phi, known as “Pie with the Pi Phis,” which will fall this year on Oct. 17. Senior Alissa Smith, Pi Phi’s Philanthropy Chair said she is excited for how this sweet event helps spread literacy.
“Our philanthropy has always been literacy, so we support different programs around the nation with whatever we earn. The event is so much fun. The tickets usually cost somewhere between $3 and $5, and for that you get into a full dessert buffet,” Smith said.
The event not just limited to Pepperdine students, but also invites the Malibu community to participate. Also held in the cafe, Pie with the Pie Phis offers not just a play on words, but a chance to date one of the dessert serving girls.
“We’re holding a raffle for different gift certificates to restaurants around Malibu, so you can bid on those, but a date with a Pi Phi comes with it,” Smith said.
A few of the programs Pi Phi has worked with in the past include Champions are Readers, Links to Literacy, and First Book, a non-profit organization that buys books for low-income families.
The final philanthropy of the fall season will be Sigma Phi Epsilon’s efforts to raise money for YouthAIDS, an organization that works to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. SigEp Philanthropy Chair junior Blake Knight said the fraternity has more events planned for the fall.
“We used to do the “Queen of Hearts,” which was a beauty pageant to raise funds and awareness for YouthAIDS,” Knight said. “But this year we’re changing it up a bit so that more people on campus can participate in this awesome cause. SigEp has worked a lot with YouthAIDS in the past and we are eager to do more because this is such a relevant issue.”
This year SigEp plans to do a “photo safari” throughout the week, each group will be given a list of a dozen or so places in Malibu. The groups will go and take creative pictures at each place, with all of their members in the frame. The most creative photograph will win the grand prize at the week’s end.
All of these great events offer not just members of the Greek system, but any student on campus fun ways to get involved with something bigger than themselves. So keep your eyes peeled and your ears open, and show support for Pepperdine’s local charity efforts, while having a good time.
09-27-2007
