On any other Saturday night, college students would just be playing video games in their dorms for no reason at all. But on Saturday over 60 students signed up to play in a video game gauntlet and all for a good cause.
The Student Union Ballroom was abuzz Saturday night as Phi Mu Delta put on a Super Smash Bros. and FIFA video game tournament in an effort to help raise money and awareness for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the fraternity’s national philanthropy project.
Participants of the tournament paid five dollars to enter and play in either the Super Smash Bros., or FIFA video game gauntlet.
Forty-six players entered in the Super Smash Bros. tournament hoping to win the first place prize of a $50 Wal-Mart gift card, while 20 others entered in the FIFA tournament to duke it out for a $25 gift card to Red Front.
Students who came to cheer on their friends, or just to watch the gauntlet first-hand, were also able to help raise funds, by buying raffle tickets for gift certificates and other donations from stores like Sweet Frog, Uptown Café, Main Street Lanes, Red Front and many other local establishments.
Participants and spectators greatly enjoyed video gaming the night away. “It was awesome,” junior Will Lambert exclaimed, after achieving his first round victory. Lambert ended the night in second place in the Super Smash Bros. tournament.
By the end of the night, Jack Wagstaff and Daniel Campos would be crowned champions of Super Smash Bros. and FIFA, respectively. For FIFA champion, Daniel Campos, he was just excited to get together with friends and spend a couple of hours playing FIFA.
“It was really more exciting to play than win. It’s always fun to do something this social and winning was just a bonus…It was a great idea for raising money. There should be more events like this,” said Campos.
Chad MacDonald, Phi Mu Delta’s Philanthropy Chairman, was in charge of the event. He helped to get many of the local companies to donate and advertise the event.
“The majority of the work is getting company sponsorships to get prizes to raffle off and in turn they also help advertise the tournament,” said MacDonald.
“It’s management and action at the same time. The way philanthropy runs is there’s not really a leader, it’s just we’re all working together here as one.”
Phi Mu Delta’s work certainly paid off, as they were able to raise $559.13 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Yet, for MacDonald this fundraiser had a lot significance, as the Phi Mu Delta brother spoke on how cancer has touched his life.
“One of my best friends suffers from cancer and specifically we donated to the Cancer Research Program for Children and another one of my friends’ little sister has leukemia,” said MacDonald.
“I know two people who suffer from cancer and it runs in my family, so donating to this cause means a lot to me and it means a lot to all the brothers.”
MacDonald continued, explaining the importance of putting on the tournament and what he hoped its impact would be, saying, “Honestly, I think [this was] more [about] awareness than money. I think money is material, awareness is an idea and it can be carried easier around.”
The tournament was certainly a success and showed how just a video game tournament can help spread much needed awareness.
