By Alex Caprara
Staff Writer
The sun was bright, the air was crisp and the hot chocolate was delicious at Kappa Kornhole this past Saturday. Kappa Kappa Gamma’s third annual philanthropy event was held on East Quad and mustered quite a turnout.
The primary goal of the event was to raise money for the sorority’s national philanthropy: Reading is Fundamental. Hannah Lugg ‘16, the philanthropy chair for Kappa Kappa Gamma, had positive things to say in regards to the foundation.
Kappa Kornhole had 28 teams representing various Greek and non-Greek students at the event.
“Reading is Fundamental… is a non-profit organization that donates millions of books and promotes literacy in underserved communities,” Lugg said. “Nearly two-thirds of low-income families in the U.S. do not own a single book and RIF hopes to change that. Literacy and reading is an important part of childhood and every child deserves to own their own book,” she said.
The sorority managed to raise over $1,500 for Reading is Fundamental, nearly three times more than what they raised last year.
It was $20 to register a team for the event, and there were also delicious caramel apples and hot chocolate for sale, the proceeds of which went to Reading is Fundamental.
As for the corn hole tournament itself, the competition was hot. 28 teams representing different groups competed in the tournament. There were teams representing fraternities and sororities from the Multicultural Greek Council, the Panhellenic Council and from the Interfraternity Council.
Although there was a lot of Greek representation, the tournament was not limited to fraternity and sorority members.
“The best thing about Kornhole is that you do not have to be involved in Greek life to enjoy it,” Lugg said. “We don’t just have teams from fraternity and sorority life participate.”
Emma Lynch ‘16, Laura Van Horn ‘16, Jessica Braid ‘16 and Molly McDonough ‘16 take a break from refereeing the games.
The championship match ended up being a showdown between two duos representing the Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Ryan Erickson ‘16 and Jon Sullivan ‘17 came out on top, defeating the team of Gabe Mitchell ‘16 and Jake Dennie ‘17 to take home the title of 2015 Kappa Kornhole champions.
The event was a huge success, and Lugg had nothing but positive things to say about it.
“The event went smoothly, and the weather was perfect,” she said. “This is our third year of doing Kappa Kornhole, but only our second year of having it as our main philanthropy event, so it is still growing.”
Later on, Sullivan and Erickson spoke on their victory and on the event as a whole.
“We’re glad to have won, but the overall amount of participation in the event is what was really great and made it special,” they said. The Kappas are doing some really great things and Kappa Kornhole is a fantastic annual event.”
Photos Courtesy of Jessica Braid