War of the Roses – Spring 2010
During the week of April 5th Eta Omega raised over $3,000 during a four day philanthropy called War of the Roses – to raise money for the Brady Campaign (an organization dedicated to stopping gun violence through sensible legislation). The event consisted of 5 sororities on campus (ΣΚ, ΑΦ, ΑΔΠ, ΑΓΔ, ΓΦB) competing amongst one another throughout the week on a multitude of events, with the men of Theta Chi split up evenly among the sororities as coaches. The event was created and spearheaded by Theta Chi Vice President Andrew Chalmers, who was inspired by the death of his friend in an unsolved shooting to raise money for the cause.
War of the Roses kicked off on Tuesday with a house decoration, designed to instill competitiveness, and points were awarded to the house with the best design. On Wednesday a “Theta Chi Carnival” fundraiser was hosted on campus – with a dunk tank, kissing booth, cotton candy, popcorn, snow-cones, and a booth where you could “Pie an AD Pi.” That event alone raised $550 for charity, and points were awarded based on creativity and money raised.
On Thursday there was a change drive on campus where each cent collected was worth 1 point. However, dimes and 5-dollar bills were assigned negative values, leading teams to pour money into each others collection jars! The day alone raised well over $1,000, and reactions from the campus community were great.
War of the Roses concluded on Friday with a powderpuff tournament and BBQ where concessions could be purchased, and the value of the concession purchased would be worth points for ones team. ΣΚ won the powderpuff game, and the entire event.
The whole week was filled with mostly sober fun, an alien concept to many Greeks at Chico State. Girls were excited to be a part of a competitive event for a legitimate cause, and the bros loved being at the center of over 400 competing girls. Despite it being the first event of its kind for Theta Chi, the week went extremely well and now that people know what to expect it will certainly be even better in the years to come!