Alumni Hall hosts Cornhole Championship

It was early in the evening but already the Indiana Memorial Union Alumni Hall was filling with dozens of students eager to test out their hand-eye coordination in order to help a charitable cause. Intensive Freshman Seminars Extended member Kim Karr made a few practice tosses as she prepared to participate in the Campus Cornhole Championship.\nHoping to raise money for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, the Lutheran Campus Ministry hosted the Campus Cornhole Championship Friday in the IMU Alumni Hall from 8 p.m. to midnight. \nKarr and fellow members of the Intensive Freshman Seminar Extended decided to take on the challenge as a community service project. The IFS Extended is a living learning community that combines academics with community service and leadership experience.\n“I think it’s a good idea – this isn’t like any other fundraiser,” she said. “There’s no cure for AIDS, so it’s great to raise money to build awareness.”\nThe Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation strives to reduce the progression of HIV in infected children, work on preventive methods and help develop a vaccine to ultimately cure for the disease, according to the organization’s brochure. The organization aims to fight pediatric AIDS through funding critical research and training, launching and supporting global health initiatives and advocating for children’s health care.\nIn cornhole, opposing teams consisting of two contestants take turns tossing bags at raised platforms with holes in the centers about 25 feet away. The goal is to get the bag into the hole. The game originated in Cincinnati and is popular among Midwestern college students.\nThe goal of the Cornhole Competition is to promote awareness of the Lutheran Campus Ministry and to raise money in support of fighting pediatric AIDS, according to an advertisement for the event. \n“As Lutherans we’re called to serve and we’ve chosen pediatric AIDS as a cause,” said junior Morissa Moore. “We’ve just chosen to do it in a fun, non-traditional way.” \nThe Lutheran Campus Ministry hopes to raise around $2,000 for the foundation, Moore said. The total amount raised was not available as of Sunday night.\nSeveral local businesses helped support and donate money to the Campus Cornhole Championship and offered many of the raffle prizes including a $200 sitting from Chadron Photography, five free tanning sessions from A Total Tan and an IU basketball signed by coach Kelvin Sampson and the entire men’s basketball team, valued at $500. Groups such as the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity and IFS Extended sponsored teams to compete.\nPhi Sigma Kappa President Brian Skram was encouraged to get involved in the Cornhole Championship by his sister, Lutheran Campus Ministry Pastor Kelli Skram, and organized a group of fraternity brothers into teams.\n“Philanthropy is always a great thing to get involved with,” he said.\nGraduate student Doug Doblar was one of three students to organize the event, along with senior Elizabeth Oates and Moore. \n“(Cornhole) is a game that people enjoy and everyone can play,” Doblar said. “It’s a universal game where you don’t have to be an expert. If we’d said that we were going to play basketball, some people might not have turned out because it’s more competitive.”\nCompetitors paid $30 to enter the competition, for which they received two free T-shirts and 10 raffle tickets. The competition consisted of five round robin rounds in which teams were narrowed down from 16 until the final championship round. Winners received a set of boards and gift certificates to the IU Bookstore. \nLutheran Campus Ministry Minister Jeff Schacht said that another reason that the organization chose to support the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation was to promote the understanding of AIDS.\n“One of our purposes as Lutherans is to minister to people on the edges of society,” Schact said. “There is still a stigma attached to AIDS and student groups often seem to shy away from AIDS issues.”