“It was something we wanted for a long time,” Delta Chi member Matt Smith said. “We never had an event that was branded as ours.”
Delta Chi now has one of the largest philanthropies on campus: Miss Greek IU, a fashion show that raises money for the V Foundation for Cancer ?Research.
This year’s event is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 29 at IU Auditorium.
Smith, the current Miss Greek IU coordinator for Delta Chi, said the event was new to IU when it was created.
“Most fraternities donate all of their proceeds from their philanthropy events to their charity,” he said.
15 percent of what every contestant raises goes to their sorority's philanthropy, he said.
Smith said this year’s fundraising goal is $60,000, which would exceed last year’s total by $20,000.
“It’s very attainable for us to achieve and will make Miss Greek IU one of the largest greek philanthropy events at IU,” he said.
Delta Chi President Nathan Krummen said Miss Greek IU is a source of involvement for the entire greek community, as fraternities and sororities are paired up to assist in reaching their fundraising goals.
“It’s an opportunity to showcase what the greek community has done and what they’re doing,” he said. “Philanthropy is a major part of greek life, and this gives a lot of validation to all of our brothers and the greek community as ?a whole.”
Former Delta Chi member and Miss Greek IU co-founder Jakson Alvarez said he assisted in creating the event because he wanted to make something that would last for years.
“We wanted to take our philanthropy to the next level,” he said. “I joined the greek community because I wanted to join the tradition of being a part of something greater than yourself. We wanted to showcase the different efforts the greek community does all year round, and this is the drive we still have for it today.”
Krummen said the progressing growth of Delta Chi is a major reason for Miss Greek IU’s growth.
“Our first year with Miss Greek IU we had 25 members, and now we have 110 members,” he said. “Our abilities to run the event have gotten stronger each year, and we try new things with the logistics for the event and it changes every year.”
Although he is a recent IU graduate, Alvarez said he has been helping the brothers of Delta Chi closely in their efforts with this year’s Miss Greek IU.
“We want to increase the attendance and the money raised for all organizations being represented,” he said. “I personally want it to become something that continues past my time at IU and eventually becomes a big event at the national level.”
This is the fourth year for Miss Greek IU. Last year, Alpha Phi sorority member Natalie Lorenzano was given the title and a $750 scholarship.
The participants in last year’s pageant raised a total of $41,842. Of that total, $37,107 went to the V Foundation for Cancer Research and the rest went to 19 other foundations the contestants worked with.
Alvarez also said part of Miss Greek IU’s growth is the result of tremendous support from the University, Delta Chi’s national office and the V Foundation itself.
“It’s taken a lot of work from various organizations and dozens of individuals to get to this point,” he said. “It’s great to see the greek community and the University working together for something that impacts so many lives. We don’t consider it a beauty pageant but a philanthropy pageant."
This story has been edited to say 15 percent of what every contestant raises goes to their sorority's philanthropy.
