Chapman’s Greek Life is more into sports than you'd expect
Kappa Kappa Gamma held its annual Kappa Bowl flag football tournament last month, raising just over $1,300 for the JED Foundation. Pike x AXO (bottom right) won this year’s tournament. Photo collage by EMILY PARIS, photos courtesy of Kennedy Murphy
You might not know that Chapman University offers sports beyond the Division III and club teams here on campus. Chapman's Greek life is also a part of the sports scene at the university, using philanthropy events as a way to bring the chapters together to participate in events, many of which are sports-related.
These events aim to raise money for the foundation or charity the chapter supports. To raise money, the chapter holding the event sets up tables on campus and offers games for people to play that cost a couple of dollars, going towards the cause being supported through the event. For Kappa Bowl, the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority raised money by selling shirts for the event and having interactive games, including an annual Kappa Bowl event during the spring semester, for people to play for donations.
The Kappa Bowl, a flag football tournament, pairs sororities and fraternities together to play and raise money for Kappa Kappa Gamma's philanthropic purpose of supporting mental health and well-being.
"For Kappa, we are able to highlight a specific philanthropy involved with mental health, and JED is the perfect organization. Being able to bring together the Chapman community for a greater cause, in support of those struggling, is something so powerful,” said Kappa Kappa Gamma Philanthropy Chair Kennedy Murphy. “All proceeds made are then donated to Eta Sigma's partnered philanthropy, the JED Foundation."
JED’s mission, according to their website, is to help young adults navigate emotional distress, reduce youth suicide and improve the mental health safety net provided to college students nationwide.
Kappa Bowl took place at Musco Lawn in late March. Besides bringing together the Greek Life community, Kappa Bowl also unites Chapman’s football team with Greek Life by offering volunteer positions to referee the games.
Essentially, a bracket is constructed, placing each pairing against another. Teams play tournament-style games, with the winner of the last game being named the Kappa Bowl champion.
Kappa Kappa Gamma believes the impact of this event goes much farther than the memories made on the field. This year, Kappa raised just over $1,300 for the JED Foundation through Kappa Bowl. These donations go towards funding programs and initiatives like mental health resources and educational programs, as well as partnerships with communities and schools and investments into research to address mental health challenges faced by young people.
“We hope this event brings awareness to the taboo subject of mental health. It is not uncommon for individuals, especially college students, to struggle with some emotional hardship. It is essential to know that you are never alone, and bringing to light this hard topic opens the door to conversation.”
Sporting events in Chapman’s Greek Life aim to provide students more opportunities to learn about each chapter's values and causes and bring together smaller communities.
"Greek life events allow people from every chapter to unite and support various target groups,” Murphy said. “By being involved in each other's events, Greek Life at Chapman can raise money for different causes and educate its members.”
Murphy continued: “Kappa Bowl is just one event of many in Greek life that does this. Kappa Bowl stands out because of its connection to mental health and suicide prevention. Especially among young college-aged students, being transparent about mental health is very important and could change somebody's life."
Beyond Kappa's members, other participants, like sophomore political science and strategic and corporate communications double major Thea Krause, believe in the importance of these events for similar reasons.
"I joined Theta's (Kappa Alpha Theta) team for Kappa Bowl because it is a fun way to raise money for the Jed Foundation, and Greek Life events like Kappa Bowl always bring our communities closer together," said Krause, who is a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta chapter and played in the tournament.