With finals coming up, my brain is going into overload and I’m freaking out! I’m the type of student who tends to procrastinate day by day, but I always gets my act together before the deadline, but here I am with three tests to study for and I have no idea where to start. Can you help me out so I don’t have a nervous breakdown?

Sincerely,

I’ll Study Later

Dear ISL,

I tend to have the same problem! I would recommend writing out a schedule of what you’re going to study when. That way, you’ll know what you have to do and won’t let yourself get thrown off. Also, make a to-do-list of things that will be helpful along the way (i.e. meet with your professor, write a study guide, etc.) If you’re prone to distraction, try your best to isolate yourself from your friends when you need to get things done. Claim a desk at the library before they’re all taken! Try to utilize on-campus resources such as the Writing Center for final papers and see if your class’s PLA is holding a study session. And remember: If you’re getting too overwhelmed, this campus is full of students feeling the same way, so know you always have people to vent to. Good luck!

Your friend,

Care Bear

If you’re dealing with a problem with classes, friends or anything else on campus, odds are someone else at Gettysburg is having a similar problem. So rather than confide in your parents or reliable best friend, why not publish your personal problems for all the world to see!? It’s like when you go up to your professor with a question, and he or she insists that you ask so the entire class can hear in case other students have the same question. My name is Caroline, and, hey!—I care! If you have a problem relating to school, friends, relationships, etc., go ahead and over-share. I will keep your identity a secret, and I might even be able to help! Email me your questions at rubica01@gettysburg.edu and I will answer a different question every Monday! Help me to help you. Let’s start over-sharing.

Interview by AnnaMarie Houlis

Each week we will have an interview with a new cutie on the prowl! This week he’s confident, he’s smart, he’s a true gent, he’s Nick Careghini!

Nickname:  Ghin Cat

Class Year: 2015

Major/Minor: Physics

If you could graduate with the job of your dreams, what would it be?

Male stripper at Chip N’ Dales just like my idols Chris Farley and Patrick Swayze.

What makes you an eligible bachelor—the best bachelor?

That’s for me to know and you to find out……but really I have no clue.

What would your ideal woman sport on a typical weekday afternoon? As Drake would say: sweatpants, hair tied and chillin’ with no make-up on? Or do you prefer a girl who gets dressed to impress?

A New York Rangers jersey and yoga pants.  No need to get dressed up, just keep it casual.

What makes your perfect burger?

A Five Guys cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onions, smoked mushrooms and A1 sauce.

If you were dating someone for a while, how would you spice and change things up a bit in your relationship?

Grow a mustache, obviously.  There’s a reason why Ron Burgundy’s success rate is so high.

What would you stick in your crush’s mailbox to surprise her?

My room key — hopefully she would know it was me or I’d be locked out forever. But I digress…

How active are you on and off campus?

Define active…

Nick was asked to complete the following sentences…

This Springfest was a weekend full of…shenanigans.

When I go home for the summer I plan to…work a lot.  I have no money to my name. 

WORD ASSOCIATION: Nick received a series of words and was told to quickly respond with the first word that came to his mind upon hearing each word.

Live: Life

Love: Sosa

Laugh: Everyday

Eat: Italian

Pray: A lot

Kiss: The curb

Cry: Baby

Selfie: Never

Ticklish: Everywhere

Crave: Cheez- Its

Why are you Gettysburg Great?

If I’m Bachelor of the Week, I must be doing something right.

Senior Lindsey Robinson notched the game-winning goal in the Bullets’ match-up against CC rival, Franklin & Marshall. The Lady Bullets came out of the nail-biter 12-11 and earned a first round bye in the CC tournament. (Photo courtesy of David Sinclair)

By Emily Kleinburd, Staff Writer

With only one loss on the season and a perfect conference record, the Gettysburg women’s lacrosse team heads into the Centennial Conference tournament with a large target on their back, and no team is looking for a rematch more than the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats.

The Lady Bullets (16-1, 9-0 CC) have been the team to beat in the region since 2011 when they claimed the National title. This year has been no different. Consistently ranked in the top five all season long, the Bullets have played high-intensity lacrosse every game. With a competitive schedule, including six top 20 opponents, the Bullets have risen to multiple challenges throughout their season, and the conference tournament should serve as a great preview for what to expect from them in the NCAAs.

After an abrupt and disappointing end to last year’s promising season, the Bullets showed in their game against F&M last Wednesday that they are hungrier than ever for a conference title and for a top seed in the tournament.

In the rivalry matchup between the fifth-ranked Bullets and the sixth-ranked Diplomats, the Bullets prevailed 12-11 in what turned out to be a nail-biter down to the last minute. Senior Lindsey Robinson put away the game winner with 1:40 on the clock, and First-year Lindsay Clinton made a save with 25 seconds left to play to hold the lead for the win.

The victory clinched the top seed in the conference tournament for the Bullets and gave them hosting rights for the weekend of May 4-5.

“Wednesday’s win was a big one,” said Senior captain Lindsay Menton. “The game was very competitive and exciting. We were all determined to come out on top and I think that really contributed to our success.”

Junior Lauren Pruitt played one of her best games all season, tying her season high with five goals. First-year Amanda Borucki was also on top of her game, putting the ball in the back of the cage for a season high four times.

The two national powerhouses tied the score six times in the opening period. The Bullets were able to catch some momentum right before halftime, adding two goals, one a piece from Pruitt and Borucki, before the buzzer. The second half opened with another Borucki score, giving the Bullets a 3-goal lead with 28:11 on the clock.

The Diplomats then went on a 3-1 goal run before Gettysburg’s Pruitt was able to capitalize off a pass from First-year Maggie Connolly to give the Bullets a two goal lead. Fifty-three seconds later, the F&M scored again, bringing the Bullets’ lead back to only one.

Towards the end of the second half, Diplomat goalie Kelsey Hoffman made a crucial stop on a point-blank shot from Sophomore Bridget Kenny, which was followed by a game tying goal with only 3:35 left to play.

The game-winner was fired with 1:40 on the clock. Sophomore Kelsey Markiewicz’s feed from behind the cage hit Robinson perfectly for a quick stick that was too fast for Hoffman.

In the Diplomats’ final attempt to bring the game into overtime, F&M’s offense was unable to produce a successful play and Clinton was able to block their final shot to keep the lead for the Bullets. Menton picked up the ground ball and carried it down the field to ensure possession until the end of the game.

Clinton finished with four saves on the day, while Senior Mairead McGuirk had five draw controls and grabbed two ground balls. Senior Hayward Sawers contributed three draw controls and classmate Robinson finished with two goals. Markiewicz had solid contributions all over the field with two assists, two caused turnovers, and two draw controls. Kenny handled four draw controls and Connolly added three assists and one goal.

While the score and game were close, the stats were all in Gettysburg’s favor. The Bullets had a 31-18 advantage in shots and a 16-9 advantage in draw controls. The Bullets also showed discipline by matching their season low of eight turnovers.

“While this win gave us a lot of confidence going into this weekend’s conference championship,” Lindsay Menton said. “We know we will have to keep working hard to get ready. If we play the way we did Wednesday and really make every possession count while fine tuning some of our mistakes, we have no doubt we will defend our Centennial Conference title.”

The Bullets closed their perfect conference regular season with an 18-0 win over Bryn Mawr College on Saturday, April 27.

Gettysburg has a first-round bye in the Centennial Conference tournament and will be playing the winner of the McDaniel College/Washington College game on Saturday, May 4 at 1:00 p.m. on Clark Field.

My life is perfect. I am currently unemployed and I have no motivation to write any of the five papers that will decide whether or not I graduate in three weeks. But my life is completely perfect.

My grades aren’t exactly as high as they could be and I don’t think that I’ll be graduating with honors. But ask me a question about the influence of Darwinism in the novels of Thomas Hardy, or about gender relations among the Huli in Papua New Guinea, and I can give you an answer. My education at Gettysburg has little to do with grade point averages and transcripts. (In case any of my professors are reading, I still care. Please give me an A.) My classes and my professors in Anthropology, Africana Studies, Art History, English and Political Science have provided a great selection of conversation topics, especially my most recent reading for Professor Amster about transgendered prostitutes in Brazil. I’m well-versed in Victorian-era literature and American government, but, more importantly, I’m aware. In its diversity and occasional obscurity, my education at Gettysburg has allowed me to be present in the world and has encouraged me to learn for the sake of learning. I’m definitely prepared to ace my exams, but I’m even more ready to be an active, productive citizen beyond the Gettysburg community.

I can’t say that I’ve spent every day and night of the past four years doing homework on the third floor of the Library. This year, I’ve found a new home-away-from-the-Library in The Gettysburgian office in Plank basement. My work as Editor-in-Chief has been easily the most rewarding, worthwhile experience that I’ve had at Gettysburg. I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside a staff of wonderfully creative and talented editors who have challenged me – for better and for worse – and have trusted me to lead this publication. Even as I’ve sat glued to a computer screen for hours on end and edited article upon article, our staff has made the monotony so enjoyable and generally a little crazy, too. I’m unbelievably proud of the work that we’ve accomplished together and I’m so excited that AnnaMarie and Casey will take the lead next year. You’re both more than capable and I’m grateful to have had opportunity to share EIC with you for the past several weeks. I know that The Gettysburgian will continue to thrive and, even though graduation is bittersweet, I’m so looking forward to seeing the amazing work that you’ll do next year. And when the Orientation issue rolls around and you have no idea what you’re doing at 10 p.m. on Monday night, I’m here for you guys…unless I change my number.

All of this has brought my life fairly close to perfection, if you ask me, but my sistaz, my wonderful B.C. babez, have made the past four years absolutely perfect. This is the fanciest bunch of fools on campus and I’m proud to be a called a B.C. lady. You might not know our names, but you’ve probably heard of our obese diva of a cat. She goes by the name of Big Gurl and she’s got her own Twitter account (@BigGurlBigProbz) with more followers than our other resident cat (for some wit and wisdom follow @callme_ciaracat). Big Gurl has long since moved on from the B.C. to the rolling hills of Oley, but she’s a fine B.C. girl like any other. We’ve all been told that we’ll need to leave the B.C. in a few weeks, but I don’t think we’ll be apart for long. These brilliant, sophisticated ladies are all heading in different directions, but if I’ve learned anything, it’s that you can take a girl out of the B.C. but you can’t take the B.C. out of a girl. We’re for life, gurlfriendz – and you know we’ll always come home to Mama’s.

So, for all of its imperfections, my life and my career at Gettysburg have been perfect. I haven’t always made the best decisions and my parents think that I should really study more often, but I wouldn’t change a thing about my life. And I know it’s only going to get better.

You might not think Adam and Eve is all about “Mad Men”-era gender politics, or that Cain and Abel is really an exercise in bawdy British humor. You might even assume—incorrectly, of course—that Lucifer was never the fairest angel of them all.

Well, you would be wrong. But fortunately for you, a play is rolling into town this Friday with all the answers you never knew you wanted! Come see Professor Christopher Fee’s 312 Medieval Drama class in “You’re Outta Here: The Story of Adam and Eve!” and soon you can show your friends up with inane, extra-Biblical trivia that you won’t hear anywhere else. You might even come up with a joke or two to use at that party next week! If all else fails, you will come out with some great blackmail to use if Professor Fee just won’t sign your Declaration of Major form because he’s “too busy” (All he does is roll around in the grass here—come out and watch, you’ll see).

So what if you were unaware that God prefigures Mufasa from “The Lion King,” or that the story of Cain and Abel actually took place in our very own Gettysburg, Pennsylvania? We can’t all be medieval academics and Biblical scholars! Fear not, for our play is finally here to help you with topics that your one for-credit English class from freshman year might have skipped over, such as the socio-moral nuances of medieval liturgical drama and happy pizza from Cambodia. Believe me, it definitely helps the theology go down!

If you want to know how medieval dramaturgy operates in a modern context, or how relevant Disney references could possibly be to the Bible, or maybe you just want to know what Cambodia tops its happy pizza with, join us on the back steps of Breidenbaugh Hall to find out! Our performance will begin 4:00 PM on Friday, May 3rd, as a part of Gettysburg College’s Celebration and our innate duty to educate the masses.

So don’t deliberately disobey this commandment: Thou shalt be there, rain or shine, this Friday at 4:00 PM! And if the 11th Commandment isn’t enough to get you there, maybe a live snake, some exciting special effects, or one temperamental ox—played by your favorite Department of English Chair—will do the trick.

Seniors Alyssa Bosold and Briana Stetler pose during a SASA event. (Photo courtesy of SASA)

By Sarah Van De Weert, Staff Writer

As the spring semester comes to a close, Gettysburg prepares to lose the class of 2013, and those seniors prepare to say goodbye to what they called home for the last four years.  Current seniors took the time to reflect on their favorite memory from the past four years and what they will miss the most about Gettysburg.

“My favorite Gettysburg memory is hard to pinpoint,” said Senior Briana Stetler, “But overall, I would say all the fun times I’ve had with my friends.”

“If I had to choose, Snowball was always my favorite time of year.  I just love how for one night, the campus comes together in a classy way to eat, drink, and dance,” said senior Riccardo Purita.

Senior Alyssa Bosold said, “It is hard to pick a favorite [memory].  I really enjoyed staying here over the summer between my sophomore and junior year as a Melon scholar.  I lived with a great group of people with diverse interests and it was so much fun to get to know them.  I also really enjoyed the immersion trip that I took to New Orleans with CPS, and of course, I will never forget the fun times I have spent with my wonderful friends here!”

“My favorite memory is hanging around my apartment until 2 a.m. with five of my close friends just laughing, playing games, being silly, and sharing our hearts with each other,” said Senior Melissa Dorrance.

“It is hard just to pick one memory as a favorite.  I’ve really enjoyed cooking large pasta dinners with friends over the years,” said Senior Paul Di Salvo.  “Another great memory is when my freshman floor—Rice 3!—decided to be crazy freshmen and go to JMR’s inauguration like it was a sporting event. We made signs and put pictures of her face and the letters JMR on our cheeks. It was by far the most ridiculous thing I’ve done at Gettysburg.”

Many said that what they will miss the most once they leave Gettysburg will be the community.

“I will miss my friends in particular, but never again will I have the chance to live in a community like this,” Dorrance said.

Senior Linnea Goebel said, “I will miss being surrounded by such a large number of people who believe I can do anything and who are eager to help me achieve my goals.”

“I will miss the community feel that Gettysburg has to offer, whether it be my friends who are always so supportive or the kind faculty and staff,” Di Salvo said. “Gettysburg has always been there to try to give me everything that I can ask for and build me up to be a responsible adult.”

“Servo cookies!” Stetler said laughing, “But in reality I will miss the community I’ve been a part of for four years—my friends, professors, and the people I work with.”

As far as how they are feeling about graduation, there are a lot of mixed feelings.

“It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” Senior Kevin Lugo said.

“I am sad, but also excited to start the next phase of life,” said Bosold.  “I think Gettysburg has prepared me well for the future—whatever that future may be.”

Stetler said, “It’s bittersweet, especially handing over the club I co-founded—SASA—but I have great confidence that it will continue to grow under the wonderful and dedicated new leaders.  I’m ready to moe on to the next step in my life, and I’ll be glad not to have homework anymore!”

“I am definitely sad to leave Gettysburg as I feel so comfortable here and have made so many great, lifelong friends,” said Di Salvo, “However, I know that I will be moving on to a great graduate school, career, and life experiences that I couldn’t have acquired without Gettysburg’s guidance the last four years.”

These seven students are all going different directions after graduation.

Melissa Dorrance is planning to work in full-time campus ministry with DiscipleMakers.  Riccardo Purita will be a City Year corps member within AmeriCorps in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Goebel is going to Bosnia to work with a women’s organization that helps widows of war find ways to generate income for themselves before continuing on to work as an Au Pair in Moscow, Russia.

Bosold is hoping to work doing something related to public health or in the NGO sector. Di Salvo will be pursuing his Masters of Professional Studies in Conservation Biology at SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry.  Lugo will be biking across the country and then trying to find a job on the west coast. Stetler plans to work for a year or two before going to graduate school, probably for a degree in School Counseling.

These seniors also shared advice for those remaining at Gettysburg for another few years.

“Besides the cliche advice about balancing work and play, I’d say definitely seek out as many of the opportunities Gettysburg provides you with, especially the CPS Immersion projects and research opportunities with professors,” said Stetler.

Lugo urges students to “Make the most of it and never, ever, ever settle for anything less than exactly what you want.”

“Definitely take advantage of all the opportunities and help that Gettysburg has to offer. Utilize your professors and staff,” said Di Salvo.  “While you may be extremely busy with classwork and other activities, make sure you leave some time in to have fun and get to know and appreciate where you are. The Battlefields are such an awesome resource and extremely close by.”

“There are a lot of great opportunities here for you to do what interests you, and to step outside of your comfort zone as well,” said Bosold.  “Take advantage of both, and enjoy it while it you can!”

Goebel urges students to “Put in the extra effort to find the hidden resources this campus offers. If you want to do something or be part of something there are people and funds to help you make it happen. So tell people what you want to do and ask people if they can help you. There are some amazing opportunities available to you if you are proactive. Don’t waste your time here!”

“Redefine your ideas of success and failure, especially academically.  Failure is not always bad.  Your success is not defined solely by your grades,” said Dorrance.

“You know yourselves better than you think you do,” said Purita.  “Go with your instincts and do what you want at college as often as possible.  You only have a limited amount of time here, so never forget to make the most of each experience and to take advantage of the plentiful opportunities on campus.”

“Don’t think about not being able to do something because you’re too busy.  10 years down the road, you’re not going to remember much about your academic work, but you will remember a lot about the other things you did.

Also, remember to challenge yourself.  College is about self-reflection and learning new things about yourself.  Don’t be afraid to try something different.  We’re only crazy college kids once.”

Interview by AnnaMarie Houlis

Each week we will have an interview with a new cutie on the prowl! This week she’s cool, she can sand board, she says she is still suffering from her awkward stage but give her a chance, she’s Lizzie Laughlin!

Nickname: Laughlin

Class Year: 2014

Major/Minor: Economics Major, Business and Spanish Minors

Describe your awkward stage—the years in life, usually between the ages of 11 and 16 for girls, when you look back and have no idea how anything you wore or did was even remotely socially acceptable.

My smile was pink and green braces, I didn’t know how put contacts in so I had to wear glasses, and best of all, my mom wouldn’t let me pluck my eyebrows so I would shave them. Come to think of it, I’m still in my awkward stage…

Do you prefer men with chest hair or smoothly shaven skin? Why?

The more you resemble a werewolf, the better.

What would your ideal man wear on a typical weekday afternoon?

A onesie.

If public nudity were legal, how would life be different for you?

I’d spend a lot more time at the gym…

When should it be okay to go Facebook official, if ever?

After your first kiss.

Name three love songs that can describe your dating history.

“I’m a Survivor” – Destiny’s Child

“Give Your Heart a Break” – Demi Lovato

“Tie Me Down” – Ray J

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

In space.

Lizzie was asked to complete the following sentences…

If I were a boy, I would… do just as Beyonce says, “I’d out of bed in the morning and throw on what I wanted and go drink beer with the guys and chase after girls. I’d kick it with who I wanted and I’d never get confronted for it cause they stick up for me.”

My genuinely happiest moment in life was… when I had my first Chipotle burrito.

WORD ASSOCIATION: Lizzie received a series of words and was told to quickly respond with the first word that came to her mind upon hearing each word.

Quad: Freshman

Tower: Rapunzel

Bucket: List

Plant: Spring

Job: Need one

Sneaker: Nike

#8: Seals

Sweats: Everyday

Tattoo: Serious

Sticky: Fingers

Why are you Gettysburg Great? My ability to laugh at myself, especially in awkward situations (as seen by this interview).

Sophmore Madison Senseney had an eight place finish in the high jump. (Photo courtesy of David Sinclair)

Courtesy of GCC & M

The Gettysburg College men’s and women’s track & field teams performed well at their own Mason-Dixon Invitational on Saturday in Mussselman Stadium.

The women’s team edged Division II Millersville University by three points to take home the team title with a score of 120. The Bullet men took second among 14 teams, scoring 126 points to place behind only the University of Mary Washington, which posted a score of 162.

On a day when gusting winds tempered performances, the two teams combined for five victories, including four on the women’s side. Senior Anna Schneider earned her second win in as many weeks, capturing the 3,000-meter steeplechase in a personal-record of 11:58.91. She becomes just the second Bullet in school history to break 12 minutes in the steeple, as Stephanie Shull ‘04 set the school record of 11:33.63 in 2004.

Also coming out on top were Senior Christine Esposito, who captured the 5,000-meter run in 19:07.50. Sophomore Danielle Bernini claimed the high jump with a mark of 4-11 3/4 while First-Year Katie McCoubrie used a leap of 16-1 1/2 to prevail in the long jump.

Twelve other Bullets contributed to the team score by placing among the top-eight. First-year Julie Laudenschlager broke the school record in the mile, placed second overall, and was the top collegiate competitor, clocking a 5:22.31. Sophomore Meagan Lesniak placed just four seconds behind Esposito in the 5,000 while First-Year took second in the 100-meter hurdles and the 100-meter dash.

Placing third were First-year Cynthia Greenberg in the high jump and Senior Amanda Koslo in the 800-meter run while First-Year Fedora Jean-Francois  came in fourth in the javelin. Junior Celia Hartz  took fifth in the discus and seventh in the javelin.

Sophomore Jackie Marotto also came in seventh in the steeplechase as did First-Year Betsy Atkinson in the pole vault and Sophomore Bridget Golato in the 5,000. In addition, First-Year Katie Burns, Sophomore Madison Senseney, and Schneider all added an eighth-place finish.

In relay action, the women’s 4×400 squad of Greenberg, Laudenschlager, First-year Casey Uhrich, and Koslo took second in 4:22.78.

The men’s team received its lone victory from Senior Joe Sharp who won the mile in a gutsy finish, taking the lead in the final meters and finishing in 4:30.53. He also placed sixth in the 800, crossing the line in 2:00.57.

A pair of Bullets came in second: Senior Andrew Bay in the 100-meter dash and First-year Steve Avino in the 110-meter hurdles. Avino was also fourth in the high jump.

As the last week of classes creeps around the corner, exams are following quickly behind them. I find myself thinking about how the semester has flown by, but I always end up thinking about the passage of time. It’s the same every time. Everything is terrible while I’m in the think of it. The hours pass so slowly and the days too. But then somehow, its already the end of the week, the end of the month and we just wonder where all the time has gone. And then I remember. It’s gone in to library hours, paper writing, book reading. Of course I must factor in meal times, because those were essential break ours form the long arduous studying. And then I think of the activity that we really can’t get enough of. Sleep.

I am supposed to be getting about eight hours a night, but we all know that’s impossible. School takes up so much more time, that it seems irresponsible of me to sleep an extra hour when I should be working. And I think that’s a problem. People obviously can’t function at their best when they are sleep deprived, but we really have no choice. We power through it, sometimes only managing to sleep a few hours, even though we deserve so much more.

And that’s the way it goes. Preparing for finals is always the worst, because we are still finishing up major assignments that are due in these last two weeks before exams start. Professors are trying to push us across the finish line, but we are struggling to make it to the end. These restless nights accumulate until we can barely keep our eyes open for our morning classes.

I hate to admit this, but I know that it’s true. Near the end of the semester, when all of our assignments are inconveniently due at the same time, I find myself just getting it done. There comes a time when the stress weighs so much that I hit a breaking point. I am just getting it done. For some things, I stop worrying about quality and just focus on handing it in so I won’t have to worry about it anymore. Certain classes and their assignments are sacrificed for the sake of another because, well, a class for my major is definitely more important than the lab science that will help me do absolutely nothing in my future.

So I make those sacrifices until the final day of classes, and I can finally take a breather. But then I realize that we don’t get a reprieve at all. Instead, there is a so-called reading day on Saturday. But mysteriously Celebration also takes place that Saturday. That is an event that some people are obligated to go, whether it’s for a specific class or a senior presenting their capstone. It especially is unfortunate when they have an exam the very next day. Sunday exams are a funny thing, because I never really heard of them until Gettysburg graced us with them. So for those who needed to spend all day at Celebration and have an exam the next day, may the odds be ever in their favor.

And actually, even if someone has an exam on the Monday of exam week, they still don’t have much time to study what they learned all semester. We deserve more than one day to study for that exam. With assignments due up until the last minute, hopes and prayers for success are really the only thing left. So many of us have worked so hard all year and are anxious to show that effort before the semester comes to a close. Stress levels are at an all time high. I’ve got my fingers crossed. We can do this.

Photo Courtesy of Google Images.

By Daniel Palino, Contributing Writer

This past month has been extremely eventful for Sigma Chi. During the second week of April, shortly after celebrating the 150th anniversary of the chapter’s founding, the Theta Chapter of Sigma Chi held Derby Days, its annual weeklong philanthropy event. The week consists of activities and competitions between all of the Panhellenic sororities. Various organizations and businesses sponsored the affair.

This year’s theme was the Olympics. Each sorority represented a different country. Gamma Phi Beta was Germany, Alpha Delta Pi was Great Britain, Tri Sigma was Canada, Delta Gamma was Ireland and Chi Omega was Spain. Four Sigma Chi brothers coached each sorority.

Several new activities were added this year, including Snap-a-Sig, where sororities were awarded points depending on how many brothers they snapped a picture with. Derby Days began with Olympic trivia on Monday Night. Chi Omega emerged as the victor in that event, demonstrating comprehensive knowledge of the Olympics.

On Tuesday, Sigma Chi hosted the Big Wheels Grand Prix. The tournament involved racing Green Machines around Stine Lake. The races were a close call, but Tri Sigma pulled through in their final heat with ADPi.

Field Day took place on Wednesday. The games included Capture the Flag and Water Balloon Toss. While there was no clear winner, Delta Gamma was noted for their exceptional performance overall.

On Thursday night, Sigma Chi held a Southern Bell competition. This event was a pageant that featured a Sigma Chi coach from each team as a contestant. Each brother dressed up as a woman and gave a performance of some sort. There were beautiful “women” all around! Sigma Chi brother Binglei Chen won the event on behalf of Alpha Delta Pi. The winner was closely followed by Chi Omega and Tri Sigma.

The last event of the week was the actual Derby Day, held on Friday, April 12. Every brother had a gold derby hat, which sorority sisters needed to steal. Academic buildings, Servo, the CUB, and other areas were off limits, which increased the amount of strategizing needed to succeed. Several hats were also hidden around campus. Clues about the hidden hats locations were delivered via the Sigma Chi Instagram.

After all of the points were tallied, Chi Omega was declared the victor. In total, over $10,000 dollars were collected, all of which is being donated to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, as well as each of the sororities’ respective philanthropies.

The fact that such a fun event can yield so much money for great causes is astounding. Sigma Chi prides itself on working with this philosophy, and will continue to promote philanthropic values for years to come.