Alpha Omicron Pi Hosts First Philanthropy Event “The Ultimate Monmouth Match” in Pollak
The newest sorority on campus Alpha Omicron Pi (AOII) hosted “The Ultimate Monmouth Match” as their first University philanthropy event on Tuesday, Feb. 11. The event in Pollak theatre helped raise over $2,000 for Arthritis research.
Victoria Day, Philanthropy Chair of AOII, was incredibly pleased with the turnout of the event and the involvement of students and members of Greek life. She said, “I am speechless. It was our first time planning an event like this so we were a little nervous.”
The winners of “The Ultimate Monmouth Match” were sisters of Phi Sigma Sigma Michelle Brady and Katarina Kneer, who competed against 42 other participants.
The show was hosted by Thomas Beaufort, a brother of Phi Kappa Psi (Phi Psi) fraternity, and Kristin Waring, a sister of AOII. Waring said, “We were flattered that so many people reached out and wanted to be a part of it.”
“The Ultimate Monmouth Match” was hosted as a newlywed game, but it was open to more than just couples; many participants who came out to participate in the game were not even dating, with pairs being brothers and sisters, roommates, best friends or even big and little sisters and/or brothers from their respective Greek organization.
Each of the contestants were asked a variety of questions about their significant other which varied in difficulty. Questions ranged from asking about their partners nationality to asking about their partner’s favorite television show. Once answered, they had to write their own answer to the question and their partners answer on a white board and hold it up for the entire audience to see. If guessed right, they each earned a point which would lead them to the next round.
Warning said, “Some people definitely were creative with their answers, which was hysterical to me. I also love to socialize with anyone, so talking to participants was definitely a fun experience for me.”
Kristi Hunt, a sister of the Alpha Xi Delta (AXiD) sorority, was a participant in the event and said, “I’ve done a lot of Greek events before, but I liked this one because I was able to do it with my best friend Kelly Chapman who is also my little sister in my sorority.”
Due to the popularity of the event and support from organization, AOII had to split the show into two rounds. Each heat was asked the same questions and the top five from each round went on to the finals where they crowned the winners.
The winning pair, Brady and Kneer, won different gift cards from local vendors who sponsored the event. Day said, “We asked local vendors to donate gift certificates to serve as prizes for the winning match so we could keep our budget down, which ensured all of the money raised from the event went towards our philanthropy.
Susan Jane Story, AOII Life Loyal Member and Iota Theta Alumnae Advisory Committee Member, said more than 50 million Americans are inflicted with arthritis, two-thirds of whom are under the age of 65, including 300,000 children. She commented, “The campus support of our philanthropy helps us come one step closer to finding a cure for arthritis.”
Story added that philanthropy is at the fore front of one of AOII’s founding principles. “The members certainly did exceed the expectation at their first event as they raised a sizable amount of funds on behalf of Arthritis Research,” she said.
According to Day, a lot of time and effort was put into planning the show to make sure it ran smoothly and the outcome was beneficial for the sisters and their philanthropy. The planning of the event started last semester, but sisters of the sorority worked hard over winter break and pushed through these first couple of weeks of the spring semester to put together their first philanthropy event at the University.
Day reflected on the event and said, “I was so happy to see how packed it was. We sold over 300 tickets. Pollak was filled! And most importantly people were willing to donate to our cause. That means the most to me.”
PHOTO TAKEN from https://www.facebook.com/IotaThetaAOII
Correction:
Last week, in a story headlined “Student Loan Debt in New Jersey Increases Over the Past Five Years” The Outlook reported that students who graduated in 2013 would have $30,798 in student loan debt and 75 percent of students would have debt. The correct information is $34,810 for the 2012 school year, with 72 percent of students graduating with debt. In another story headlined “A Match Made in Heaven,” The Outlook captioned a photo recognizing Tau Delta Phi. Tau Delta Phi is not officially recognized by the University. If, for any reason, these two inaccuracies have caused misunderstandings or problems, The Outlook regrets that.
