Photo by Kyle Vertin
MICHELLE HALE
Sports Editor
Last Saturday, Delta Phi Epsilon hosted a volleyball tournament in the Dods Hall gymnasium called “Volley for Kaity.” Kaity Coleman is a junior liberal arts major and a member of the Delta Phi Epsilon (D Phi E) sorority at Fredonia.
“I wanted to do something for Kaity since she is our sister, and it’s one of our philanthropies,” said senior childhood education major LeighAnn Shaffer, the D Phi E sister who organized the event. “It only made sense to do something for her.”
D Phi E supports the Lupus Foundation of Rochester as one of its philanthropies. Coleman has Lupus, but has never been one to take pity from others because of it.
“Rather than letting people pity her, she wants to educate everyone,” said sorority sister Catie Garry, a junior childhood education major. “She is truly inspirational and it’s an honor to even know her, let alone call her a sister.”
The event began with a double elimination tournament where teams showed up at a designated time to play against one another. Games were officiated by student Intramural staff who stood on the sidelines and kept score.
Throughout the week, a table was set up in McEwen Hall where teams could come to sign up for the event. Each team paid $20 to participate in the tournament. T-shirts and ribbons were also available for purchase to help fundraise for Coleman.
“We were trying to think of something fun that was interactive where people would want to join,” said Shaffer. “We thought of volleyball since most people enjoy playing.”
Shaffer, with the help of Coleman, put together the event which started during recruitment week for the sorority.
“I’m really surprised by the amount of people that came,” said Coleman. “I was really nervous about it at first, but I think it went really well.”
Halfway through the event there was a short intermission where Coleman spoke to all the tournament participants about her personal experiences with Lupus and how it has affected her everyday life.
After Coleman spoke the heartfelt message, the sisters of D Phi E joined her on the floor to give a group hug. Tears were wiped off of everyone’s faces and the teams returned back to playing.
A long battle was fought for the teams to clinch the title of the Volley for Kaity champions, but was done with a smile on everyone’s faces the entire time.
Different baskets were raffled off during the intermission, and prizes were given out to the first and second place finishers of the tournament.
Two undefeated teams were left at the end of the tournament having to face off twice to be claimed champions.
“Volley for Kaity went amazing,” said Garry. “It’s really great that so many people came out and supported such an amazing cause.”
Members of different sororities, fraternities, athletic teams and the student body came together to support not only D Phi E’s fundraiser, but a girl who will never let Lupus take over her life.
All proceeds from the fundraiser went directly to the Lupus Foundation of Rochester.