As the spring semester draws to a close here at the University of Central Florida, most people are sitting down to take their final exams and preparing for their club banquets.
Most sororities here have finished their philanthropy weeks already, but Pi Beta Phi wrapped theirs up slightly later than most. The Florida Epsilon Chapter made the move to have a smaller, more down-to-earth philanthropy event during spring since their bigger event, “Pi Beta Feud,” usually takes place in the fall. And honestly, the move paid off.
Pi Beta Phi supports Read Lead Achieve, a philanthropy devoted to helping children learn how to read. In this day and age, reading is extremely important. Even if you don’t like it, you read every single day, whether you’re reading directions on your phone, completing classwork, or texting. Readers become leaders and achieve great things, and this philanthropy helps kids who struggle to do just that: become the next great generation of leaders. Truly, power to the readers (and the writers, we couldn’t forget about you!)
“It’s a small thing that no one really thinks about, learning to read. But it’s something you do every day, so it’s important.”
Jordan May, Chapter President
Pi Phi’s spring philanthropy week this year was held during the second week of April, with three key events: Lemonade for Literacy, Popsicles for Pi Phi, and Arrowspike, which was the headliner for the week. Lemonade for Literacy and Popsicles for Pi Phi were held at the Pi Phi house on campus, while Arrowspike was held at the Lake Claire recreation park. The goal by the end of the week was to raise at least $3500 since it was a smaller week of events.
With summer approaching and temperatures continuing to rise here in sunny Central Florida, hosting philanthropy events where people can gather for popsicles or lemonade is a smart move. Even with the threat of rain, the girls still had a consistent turnout. The vibe was always immaculate, and if someone is playing Tate McRae, I’ll come running. Well, that and they had blue popsicles.
Vice President of Community Relations and Philanthropy, Tierney McFadden, has been planning this little philanthropy week since she stepped into her new position. Having served on leadership before, she was definitely ready for anything and has a vision of the kind of place she wants Pi Phi to be.
“I want Pi Phi to be known here at UCF as a sorority that goes out into the community and helps people, we help kids, we help anybody,” she said. “Being in a sorority is so much more than just making friends and having a social life, it’s about giving back.”
As someone who has supported the sorority at their events, I agree. When I arrived at the events held at the house, it was nice to meet other members of the sorority and get to know them better, as well as why they chose Pi Phi in the first place. For some, it was the philanthropy; for others, it was the community they found during recruitment.
Arrowspike is a national event for Pi Phi, and it was started in 1885, a little under twenty years after the sorority was founded. The event gets its name from the fact that an arrow is Pi Phi’s official symbol. It was last held at UCF two years ago, but leadership at the time elected to try something new last year. Now that McFadden is the Vice President of Community Relations and Philanthropy, she has elected to bring it back with much support and enthusiasm from her chapter.
Arrowspike is a bracket-style volleyball tournament where frats and sororities compete against each other, with one sorority and one fraternity winning. The fraternities that participated were Alpha Tau Omega, Beta Theta Pi, Delta Sigma Phi, Tau Kappa Epsilon, Delta Tau Delta, Theta Chi, Zeta Beta Tau, Kappa Sigma, and Tau Epsilon Phi. For sororities, Kappa Delta, Alpha Delta Pi, Zeta Tau Alpha, and Chi Omega were represented.
Chi Omega and Kappa Sigma won the volleyball tournament and were respectively granted trophies as prizes. The organizations that participated the most and earned the highest number of points were Tau Kappa Epsilon and Chi Omega, each winning a $250 check to be donated to their respective philanthropies.
“I wanted to bring back Arrowspike because it’s a great way to raise money and get people to go out there and when they participate, they’re more susceptible to seeing what we do and what we’re passionate about.”
Tierney McFadden, Vice President of Community Relations
Looking back, the week may have been a little hectic, but the timing was well thought out. Having two events centered around popsicles and lemonade when the heat starts to pick back up is genius, and having a volleyball tournament in summer (at least, a precursor to Florida summer) is a great way to build community.
So if you want to get involved and donate to an organization and you just happen to have a love of books, then seek out Pi Phi and Read, Lead, Achieve next fall. Better yet, come out and support them at their second annual Pi Beta Feud event.
Congratulations to Pi Phi on a successful Philo week! Much love from us here at Her Campus!