GW Sigma Chi Set To Raise $50,000 For Cancer Research

All too often, Greek Life makes headlines for all the wrong reasons; someone got drunk, someone got hazed, someone did something stupid. Dateline and 20/20 report on leaked emails and Bid Day scandals with fervor and intensity that should be reserved for national crises and natural disasters, not collegiate foul play. We’re good for nothing. We’re juvenile. We cause more harm than good. As members of the fraternities and sororities, we’re branded; we’re heathens, we’re useless, we’re liabilities.

…Except that we’re not.

As a part of the Greek community, we’re elite. We were chosen. We earned our letters and we earned our recognition. We work hard – and we play hard too. We’re amongst the 85% of Supreme Court Justices, 76% of Congressmen, and 85% of Fortune 500 CEOS – all of whom are Greek. We’re not good for nothing. We’re not liabilities. And we are not useless. We are upstanding members of society. We are not drunks in letters; we are young adults who are making a difference. And the brothers of the Epsilon chapter of Sigma Chi are proving just that.

Under the guidance of their President, Bryan Weissbach, and Derby Days Chairmen, Oz Fishman and Ben Aronson, the young men at The George Washington University are using their annual weeklong event, Derby Days, as means to give back…in a huge way. In addition to hosting various social events and parties, they are set to raise a record $50,000 for the Huntsman Cancer Foundation. By implementing an innovative and impressive social media platform and the tagline, #LetsGetDerby, the brothers are spreading awareness and raising money for an incredible goal: to make us a part of the last generation to let cancer take any more lives.

In typical Derby Days fashion, various social and fundraising events, like a brother auction and Derby Dash 5K, are taking place throughout the week and all eleven Panhellenic sororities at GW are participating in this year’s activities. In addition to donations from students, families, and faculty, the men of Sigma Chi managed to lock down such impressive sponsors as ZipCar, Uber, Jack Wills, and L’Oreal. Only two days into the week and they have already raised over $27,000 and counting. All donations are given directly to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation to fund critical cancer research. If they reach their goal of $50,000 this group of young men will not only set an impressive record, they will save countless lives.

In addition to their website, www.letsgetderby.com, they have created videos showcasing the effect of cancer on various students’ lives. Here, Juliet Muir, a sophomore in Alpha Phi, shares her own personal story involving her mother’s, and likely her own down the road, battle with breast cancer.