Sigma Chi raises $10,000 during annual Derby Days
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.
