By Marc Friedland
Correspondent
The College’s newest fraternity, Delta Tau Delta, held its first Delt Week on campus from Monday, April 6, to Thursday, April 9, to raise money and awareness for its philanthropy, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, or JDRF.
The week’s various philanthropic events included fundraisers with local restaurants as well as prominent guest speakers to advocate for the cause.
“We’re making a profit, and people are showing up to the events,” Delta Tau Delta Philanthropy Chairman and sophomore sociology major Brian Hardie said. “There has been a lot of positive feedback from both the Greek and non-Greek communities.”
The brothers of Delta Tau Delta hosted a carnival as their first event on Monday, April 6, at the Brower Student Center. The afternoon was filled with student participation in several carnival games in hopes of winning prizes, with all proceeds going to JDRF.
Program Director for the New Jersey Chapter of JDRF, Maggie Ford, and her associate, Maryann Malak, spoke at Roscoe West Hall on Wednesday, April 8, to educate students and raise awareness about Type 1 Diabetes. The event saw a big turnout and proved to be very informative to the campus community.
“We learned a lot about how impactful Type 1 Diabetes is and what JDRF does with the money,” Hardie said, noting that the foundation funds the most promising research projects to both look for a cure and improve the quality of life for those who have it.
The week also involved two fundraising events, the first being an event at Five Guy’s Burgers and Fries as well as a Rita’s Italian Water Ice sale in the Student Center, with all of the proceeds from both events going to JDRF.
Sophomore history and secondary education major Katie McLaughlin, who attended both the carnival and the Italian ice sale, complimented each event’s success.
“They drew attention, and the campus has definitely been receptive to Delt Week,” she said.
The fraternity was testing the waters through Delt Week to see which events were most popular in order to help plan future events, Hardie said.
“This is one of the first big events that included a lot of planning, and we definitely learned a lot about ourselves from working together for this great cause,” said Oscar Nazar, Delta Tau Delta brother and sophomore computer engineering major, who was heavily involved in preparation of Delt Week.
Nazar hopes to see another Delt Week take place in the future following this year’s success.
As one of the many attendees of the week’s activities, McLaughlin is hopeful the event will be a long-lasting tradition, as well.
“It’s a great idea to make Delt Week an annual event,” she said, noting the fun she had at the activities and in helping raise money for such an important cause.
