By Abby Wargo
Student Life Editor
On April 2, the Alpha Omicron Pi (AOΠ) sorority held a dodgeball tournament in the Johnson Fitness Center.
The tournament’s purpose was to raise money for juvenile arthritis, AOII’s philanthropy. They raised $750 for the cause.
Pria Dutt, the philanthropy chair, said, “The Dodgeball tournament is our annual Strike Out Arthritis! event that we host to raise funds and awareness for juvenile arthritis.”
Eight teams in total participated in the tournament, including many members from other Greek organizations on campus.
“Our chapter specifically likes to work towards juvenile arthritis because kids with arthritis don’t get to do all the things that kids typically get to do,” said Breanna Caruso, the president of AOII.
“Our philanthropy is very import- ant to us because Juvenile Arthritis is not a condition widely known or talked about. Being able to support the cause while having some friendly competi- tion on the court is a great way to raise awareness on our campus,” Dutt said.
The sisters worked with the Office of Student Engagement to plan and execute the event.
The event is always enthusiastically attended by members of AOII.
“Not only do we ask them to be
there, but everyone wants to be there. Philanthropy is a huge reason why we do a to do a lot of things, or become a part of the Chapter,” Caruso said.
Many of the members attended to both play in and volunteer for the event. Hailey Craig, a member of AOII, said, “we ordered 40 pizzas [for every-one in attendance].”
A team made up of brothers from the
Phi Delta Theta fraternity won the tournament. The prize was a $100 gift card to Cafe Sado and a handmade trophy.
Freshman and Phi Delt member Drew Berry said, “It was a well-organized event and a lot of fun, there were more teams than expected. The AOΠs did a great job. Brett Van Hoven decided to make a team out of the phi Delt brothers. We started off solid with two wins, but we lost our third game. We worked our way out of the losers brack- et to the finals. We had to win twice in a row in the finals to take first place. We did it. It was the greatest comeback since the Pats in the Superbowl this year.”
“We’re really happy with how it turned out, and are very grateful for all the people who helped us make it a great event by coming out to support us and fight Juvenile Arthritis,” sophomore Valerie Fischer said.
Additional reporting done by Joe Hood, Elm Staff Writer.