William Masselli ~ Editor-in-Chief
On April 2, 2022, the University of Lynchburg Sigma Phi Epsilon’s Chapter raised money to “hit cancer out of the park” by holding a philanthropy baseball oriented event.
William Andrews, president of Sigma Phi Epsilon, said, “For those that do not know, the purpose of this event was to donate towards my uncle Harold E Drumheller II’s memorial through the cancer center that he received his treatments at during his battle. My uncle was the Head Junior Varsity Baseball Coach at Jefferson Forest High School for over 31 years, so we knew that we wanted to do something that involved baseball. At first, we didn’t really know how to incorporate baseball into the event, and I’m not entirely sure how we arrived at a wiffle ball home run derby but I’m glad that we did. I was initially a little nervous about how to plan this event because nobody has really ever done a baseball themed event, just because it’s a harder theme to go about. Through some trial and error with our planning, we were able to come up with an idea that ended up working out great and allowing a lot of people to have a great time.”
Andrews said, “Based on our T-shirt sales, the sales from the event itself, and donations, I can confidently say that we surpassed our $1000 goal that we set out to raise for this event. We are still totaling up the money that we raised, but I am certain that we raised more than $1000 and I am excited to see the total amount that we end up raising. All of the money that we raise was donated to Alan B. Pearson Regional Cancer Society. We could not be more grateful and thankful to all of that participated in this event as well as purchased T-shirts, as it allowed us to reach and surpass our donation goal.”
Theodore Poore, the vice President of Programming for Sigma Phi Epsilon, said, “This week was electric. Seeing people working together for a common goal is truly remarkable! I enjoyed watching the University come together and donate to a wonderful cause. The turnout for the event was great, we saw a bunch of different Greek Organizations attend and we had a blast playing too.”
Andrews talked about misconceptions of fraternities, stating, “Being in a fraternity is much more than people think it is. The media often paints a negative stigma of fraternities being a bunch of party animals that do nothing other than drink, do drugs, and have no respect for authority. The mission of our fraternity is service. This service extends to community service, philanthropic service, and social service to our campus population. Being in a fraternity is a unique opportunity to form a bond like none other with a band of brothers that share like-minded beliefs and goals in life. One of the biggest reasons that I joined a fraternity was to learn how to grow my leadership skills, learn how to be a functional member in a business-type environment, and be able to develop connections that will last me a lifetime after my four years of college. One of my favorite parts of being in a fraternity is being able to have a group of best friends for a lifetime, and being able to use our platform on campus to give back to the community that we serve.”
Poore agrees, he said, “Greek Life on campus is in a hard place right now. Today, Fraternities work harder than ever on this campus to create events that benefit the community rather than themselves and fight negative stereotypes revolving around Greek Life. Philanthropy events like these help show students that are hesitant about joining Greek Life that we are here to help. It also shows us that people are here to help us change the narrative and see the benefits that Greek Life has to offer.”
If you would like to participate in fraternity events, contact Theodore Poore at pooret679@lynchburg.edu.