Campus fraternities host ‘Basket-Brawl’ fundraiser

The men of the Omega Psi Phi and Pi Kappa Alpha fraternities raised $1,000 for St. Jude’s Children’s Reseach Hospital in the inagural “Basket-Brawl for a Cause” tournament on Friday and Saturday.
Senior Greg Brooks, who is head of community involvement and public relations for the Pikes, said the fraternity has been working hard to increase the its involvement in the community and raising money for charities. Brooks said the Omega Psi Phi and Pike fraternities have always been close and wanted to find a way to work together.
“We stand for a lot of the same values and have always had a great working relationship with them,” Brooks said. “We had been looking to do another big project with them.”
Junior Kendall Myers, who is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, said his fraternity was interested because it saw an opportunity to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.
“It brought a lot of people together for a good cause,” Myers said.
Brooks said 20 teams registered for the tournament, 14 were men’s teams and six were women’s teams. Team Jarrod and Team Alpha Dogs made the finals for the men’s bracket, which Team Jarrod won.
The women’s final was a matchup between the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority and the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, which the Alpha Sigma Alpha won.
“It was a great game,” Brooks said. “It came down to the last shot in that game.”
Brooks said each winning team was given $100 to donate to a charity of their choice. Brooks said Team Jarrod chose the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority team chose to donate theirs to the S. June Smith Center, which supports and helps children with disabilities.
There was also a banner contest among the sororities for the tournament. Brooks said head of UCA’s Inter Fraternal Council Scott Isenga judged the banner painting contest.
“The ladies of Alpha Sigma Alpha were selected as the winners of the contest,” Brooks said. “Their name will accompany the Pikes and the Omega Psi Phi’s name on the donation letter we give to St. Judes. We greatly appreciate the ladies of Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, Delta Zeta and Sigma Kappa for participating in the contest.”
Myers said the inagural tournament was a great success and showed there was interest out there in benefit tournaments like this.
“Raising over $1,000 for St. Judes, 20 teams competing and people showing up to watch really showed people cared about the effort and cause,” Myers said.
He said he wants to see this become an annual event.
“It helps raise money for a good cause,” Myers said. “It not only brings UCA students together, but other people from surrounding areas who come out and support the one main cause and that is St. Judes.”