A Successful Rush and Charity Events Highlight a Busy Spring Semester
Chi Phi has had a great spring, packed with exciting events, new members and many charity events, including our successful participation in THON! As we prepare for the fall, we can look back on a semester of achievement and strengthened brotherhood.
The lifeblood of our fraternity is membership, and this year’s Spring Rush, held from January 28 to February 10, was a great success. On Zone Day, we had 164 rushes come to tour our house and meet the brothers. This was followed up by several events that helped introduce the rushes to the house and the many activities of Chi Phi. We held an awesome Hockey Night that was the premier event of the rush. Vice-President Peter Bloomstine and the special projects committee built a full-size ice hockey rink over the volleyball court and used floodlights to allow play after dark. One brother was teamed with two rushes in 3v3 hockey tournament. Over 100 participants enjoyed the competition and brotherhood. Following up on the sports theme, we also sponsored a Super Bowl Watch Party at the Chapter House, which also drew a large crowd.
Here were some pictures from the Hockey Night event.
A Casino Night was held, where rushes and brothers were given poker chips and enjoyed playing blackjack, poker and roulette. Rush Week was capped off by the Bid Dinner. Our house chef, Deb, prepared a delicious dinner and the rushes got to meet the Executive Board, who shared some their favorite stories and memories of their time in the fraternity, before the rushes introduced themselves to the brotherhood. All the effort by the brothers certainly paid off as we gained 21 new members, the largest class since our Chapter reopened in 2012, and the fifth largest new class at Penn State this Spring.
With a strong new class of brothers, Chi Phi participated in a number of philanthropic events throughout the spring. Along with five other fraternities, Chi Phi competed in a charity Cornhole Tournament at the Acacia House. Good weather and great food helped turn out over 100 players, who competed for $20 gift cards and raised $2,616 for charity. Following up on events used successfully during rush, Chi Phi partnered with 8 other fraternities and sororities to host a hockey tournament, raising $1,404. We then partnered with Phi Sigma Sigma sorority to sponsor a Casino Night at our Chapter House, raising $3,200.
These events led up to the most important fund-raiser of the year: THON! Chi Phi was paired with Omega Phi Alpha for the second year in a row and enjoyed a great amount of success in this year’s fundraising effort! Chi Phi raised over $21,000 as an organization for a total of $49,500 as a paired organization! There were many exciting THON events Chi Phi hosted or participated in including a car smash on the HUB lawn (people paid to use a sledgehammer to smash a used car), a doughnut eating contest, and many more. Our biggest mission throughout the year is to building a strong bond with our families and we could not be more blessed to have them be a part of our lives. We wanted to share with you the stories of the families that motivate us to support THON!