The Den was full of love Saturday night as the men’s and women’s basketball team faced the Tougaloo Bulldogs on Valentines Day.
The games were a part of Loyola’s annual “Wolfpack Nation for the Cure.” This is a part of the national Coaches vs. Cancer collaboration.
During the week leading up to the game, the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi sold t-shirts for $10. The Panhellenic sororities competed to see who could buy the most t-shirts. The proceeds would go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation; Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Pink Zone/ Kay Yow Cancer Fund; and the National Association of Basketball Coaches’ Coaches vs. Cancer Program.
Panhellenic Council president and Maroon copy editor Lauren Navarro, mass communications and political science junior, represented her sorority Gamma Phi Beta at the game. She helped plan the activity along with Rachel Funel, member of Delta Gamma and communications junior.
“We orgaized the selling of the t-shirts and we marketed to the sororities to create the banners that advertised the game,” said Navarro.
In addition, the Panhellenic sororities and the National Pan-Hellenic Conference competed in a banner competition which also advertised the game. They were displayed in CC’s Lounge last week.
According to Funel, they had to include the date, the time of the game and where the games would take place. The Loyola basketball teams decided the banner winner, she said.
The winners of the banner or t-shirt contest would get a pizza party or catering from McAlister’s Deli at their next chapter meeting. If they won both, they would get a bonus prize: $100, to be donated to their chapter’s philanthropy.
Gamma Phi Beta won both contests and Navarro accepted the prize for her sorority. They plan to donate the money to Campfire USA, the chapter’s national philanthropy.
Campfire USA is a non-profit organization that provides summer camps where kids and teenagers learn self-empowerment and leadership skills, The Gamma Phi Beta Foundation sends over 100 low-income girls to these camps each year.
Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].
