In a fraternity or sorority, house parents are both the best and worst. They are the worst because they are there to make sure we don’t break the rules, which sometimes sucks. They are the best because, even though you’ll never hear us say it out loud, sometimes we need an actual adult around to help us out when shit hits the fan, or even just to give us a hug on a bad day. And while I don’t know him personally, Big Erv Williams looks like he doesn’t take a lot of shit — and that he gives good hugs.
Erv is the former house father for Beta Theta Pi at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When he left for a new job at Western Kentucky University in 2013, it was a hard decision for Big Erv:
“Coming to Nebraska, my first love was sports,” Williams told the Lincoln Journal-Star. “But it became Beta, the Greek system and the relationships they stand for.”
About a year after he left for Kentucky, Williams was diagnosed with a large gastrointestinal stromal tumor in his digestive tract. While chemotherapy shrank the tumor and a subsequent operation in May 2016 removed it from his stomach, Williams suffered a setback when, a week and a half later, he collapsed from a large ulcer that caused massive internal bleeding.
But though Big Erv had left the Betas, they hadn’t forgotten him — particularly Abe Karimi, whose mother Williams visited often when she was sick with cancer while Abe was in the chapter. So when Abe heard that Williams’ medical bills were piling up, he created a GoFundMe to help.
While Williams expected that maybe a few thousand dollars would be raised, his former charges surprised him. As of right now, $12,187 of the $20,000 goal has been raised, with 95 percent of the donors being Betas.
Big Erv is grateful for the financial assistance, but even more so for the emotional support he’s gotten via the texts and calls he’s gotten from the chapter members. Sometimes even the biggest of men needs a little help sometimes..
[via Lincoln Journal-Star]
Image via GoFundMe
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Jenna Crowley
Jenna used to be known as 2NOTBrokeGirls, but then one of the girls actually went broke, so she's struck out on her own. Jenna spends her free time saving the world, one sorority girl at a time (usually while wearing yoga pants), questioning why she decided to get a doctorate, and documenting her love of all things cheese related. You can ask her anything you want about football, using your boobs to get what you want, and pizza at @JennaLCrowley on Twitter or via email at JennaLCrowley@gmail.com.
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