By Heather Fabritze
Student Life Editor
To finish off the semester, Washington College’s chapter of Kappa Sigma Omicron-Phi hosted their bi-annual pancake breakfast out of the Presbyterian Church of Chestertown.
The brothers’ main philanthropic event lasted from 7 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 3. Its mission was to raise money for the Military Heroes Campaign, which Kappa Sigma supports through their fraternity philanthropy.
The campaign distributes funds to different organizations designed to assist veterans, whether it be helping homeless veterans or paying for service dogs.
Pancake breakfast is open to both the campus and local Chestertown communities. The ticket price was $5 each for an all-you-can-eat breakfast.
According to Kappa Sigma Service Chair junior Quincy Adams, the planning process for the event starts with finding a location willing to host them. Then the brothers nail down a theme, delegate roles, table and advertise, and prepare for the day of work.
The planning process, although extensive, was worth it to the Kappa Sigma brothers. “For a few of us, at least in our chapter, we have family members that were veterans and love to help out and give back to veterans that kept our country safe,” Adams said. “We know that some veterans had to go through [and] still have to deal with messed up stuff that we can’t fully understand.”
Adam’s favorite part of pancake breakfast is the fun that they have in the kitchen the day of.
At the event, the Kappa Sigma brothers make and serve regular, blueberry, and chocolate chip pancakes; eggs and cheesy eggs; bacon; sausage; and hashbrowns.
Attendee junior Larissa Conte said that her favorite part of the event was the quality of the food, and that students who didn’t attend should take advantage of pancake breakfast being a bi-annual event.
“People should go next semester because it’s so fun to hang out with your friends before the end of the semester,” Conte said. “You’re supporting a good cause and you get a good meal.”
Kappa Sigma Social Vice President senior Dylan Snow also enjoyed the fruits of their months-long labor. “I love just seeing so many people coming together and having fun and eating pancakes,” Snow said. “It might be a lot of work, but the event itself is super fun for everyone – brothers, guests, veterans, faculty – it’s like a whole community coming together for a good cause.”
Kappa Sigma also creates milestones every year to encourage donations.
This year, there were seven milestones to meet: At $1,500, Associate Professor of Biology Dr. Aaron Krochmal would dye his beard pink. Junior brother David Estes would belly flop into the Chester River at $2,000. At $3,000, senior brother David White would dye half his hair pink. Chair and Associate Professor of Psychology and Pre-Nursing Program Advisor Dr. Tia Murphy would dye her hair purple for a day at $3,500. At $4,000, senior brother Lenny Brogen and Adams would do the “one chip challenge,” a TikTok challenge which involves consuming an extra spicy chip. At $5,000, junior brother Sam Mobley would shave his head.
Snow also agreed to run one meter for every $1 raised.
Being able to make service events fun through milestones like this is a large priority for Kappa Sigma as an organization.
“Our chapter is a really chill and fun place and we love sharing that with more people,” Snow said. “I am really passionate about trying to make our chapter, and Greek Life as a whole, inclusive and welcoming to all people. We want people to find community here.”
According to Snow, Kappa Sigma raised roughly $3,150 at Pancake Breakfast, meting half of their milestone goals.
Photo by Katie Tack
Photo Caption: Pancake breakfast was so well-attended that attendee seating spilled over into the lobby.