The Inter-Fraternity Council (IFC) and the Panhellenic Council kicked off the year with a familiar activity: Kickball. Traditionally the head-to-head kickball game has been exclusive to Greek life members, but this year’s game was open to the public. Anyone could buy tickets or sign-up to play, according to Ashleigh Ferragamo, one of the students running the tournament.
Throughout the week, students in different Greek organizations were collecting player sign-ups and ticket sales on the first floor of the student center. Tickets to watch were $5 and multiple different options of payment were available.
According to Ferragamo, the IFC and Panhellenic Council planned this game as a fundraiser where the organizations will take the money they raised to go to their philanthropies. The philanthropies consist of the RAINN organization, JDRF, the ACE project and St. Jude Childrens, from the Fraternities. While from the sororities, there is the Circle of Sister, which is for assisting women in education.
The tournament took place on Friday, Sept. 22, from 3- 5:30 p.m. at the Joyce Athletic Fields. According to some of the attendees, the fans were enthusiastic and the energy was amazing. During the games, viewers saw a battle between four teams. Ferragamo and William Krenicky, another student organizer, have been working together closely on planning this tournament since late August, and had high hopes for the event.
Greek Life usually hosts this event to only the Greek members. Ferragamo said that it was important to change the private feel of this Greek event to welcome the rest of campus and make them feel included.
To help break down that wall, the teams will each have members from Greek Life, with the hopes to build connections and bring members in Greek organizations closer to students on campus, according to Ferragamo.
When the games started, there were hardly any students playing that were not in Greek Life, so teams were split between the fraternities. Likewise, the handful of women in sororities playing were split up to even out the teams.
As the games progressed, TKE was winning all their games. The teams played in a bracket and gave TKE the overall win.
In addition to the game, the Greek members running the event were selling snacks and beverages and were playing music to give a fun, friendly environment, according to Ferragamo. Students at the game noted that stand out players were Ben Stafford, from the Sigma Pi team, and Marcus Rusch, from the Alpha Sigma Phi team. A handful of sorority members could be seen cheering on the teams from the sidelines.
Ava Pittman can be contacted at
apittman@kscequinox.com
