Philanthropic Fun

David R.

May 9, 2010 - 8:55 AM

As opposed to common belief, those involved in fraternities and sororities are required to participate in certain activities that work to benefit the community. All members of fraternities and sororities are required to do a certain number of community service hours each term, and each house as a whole is required to hold one philanthropic event annually.

Yesterday I participated in Alpha Chi Omega's philanthropy that benefits Womenspace - an organization that assists women who are victims of domestic violence.

The philanthropy is a day-long softball tournament that is held on the Riverfront fields right by the McKenize River. Any campus organization can create a team, and teams are paired up to create an even number of guys and girls. I was on a team with guys from my fraternity, and we were paired with girls from the Delta Gamma sorority, as well as the flux magazine team. Throughout the course of the day we were able to play three games with a small break in between. I didn't mind the leisure time in the shade. It might have been a little overkill to play back to back to back games in the sun. There could not have been a better day for an outdoor philanthropy. In the pacific northwest, outdoor events are always risky due to the likelihood of rain; however, the sun was shining all day yesterday and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. If I could have done one thing differently I would have applied more sun screen. My neck got a little red from all of the abundant rays.

After the games were done and the champion had been crowned there was a home run derby. Each contestant got five outs to hit as many home runs as possible. I was only able to hit two, but the winner, who happened to be from my fraternity, was able to muster up enough strength to hit one more, winning with three home runs. The prize for winning was a convenient and unexpected $40. Money is always a nice prize for college students as the outflow of money is typically much greater than the inflow.

My fraternity's philanthropy is coming up soon as well. Our philanthropy has a similar setup, except we hold a volleyball tournament and it will be held in the Moshofsky Center next to Autzen Stadium. It should be a great time and all of the proceeds from the event are given to LIVESTRONG - the organization founded by Lance Armstrong.

Deciding not to play on the club baseball team this year gave me more time to do some of things I hadn't done at college yet. I have never been able to go to my philanthropy before because of baseball games and until yesterday I had never been to the Alpha Chi Omega philanthropy before either, for the same reason. It was fun to finally get a chance to participate.

As one can imagine, once a division one team has a presence at a college, that sport's club team begins to fall by the wayside. Just as we did last year, the club baseball team's season ended at the regional tournament in La Grande, Ore. this weekend. If the stars align for next season, maybe the team can make one last run at the national tournament in Florida - one of the highlights of my college career.