Friday nights aren’t the only nights for football at Kent State University. Each year, Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu play each other in football. This isn’t just a normal game with two teams competing for a trophy and bragging rights. While there is a still a cool trophy, and the winners do boast about winning, the game means much more to both fraternities than what’s on the surface.
The trophy given to the winner of the annual charity football game at Dix Stadium.
A few years ago, instead of playing the game for solely brotherhood purposes, Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu turned this annual and historic football game into a full-blown philanthropy event. For the past three years, the fraternities have chosen to donate all proceeds to The Up Side of Downs, an organization that strives “to provide support, education, and advocacy for people with Down syndrome, their families and communities.”
Bigs and littles of Alpha Tau Omega before the football game at Dix Stadium.
The Up Side of Downs is a non-profit organization that “envisions a community where people with Down syndrome have limitless opportunities and the ability to pursue their dreams,” according to its website.
The Up Side of Downs “was formed by mothers who had children with Down syndrome,” said Bryan Webb, senior Alpha Tau Omega brother. “[They] needed resources to go to and needed people to collaborate with to help each other raise kids with Down syndrome since it was a new experience for them.”
The brothers of Alpha Tau Omega after their win on Nov. 8 at Dix Stadium
On Nov. 8, the fraternities raised nearly $5,000 for the charity, doubling the amount of money raised last year. Fundraising efforts included selling t-shirts and tickets and receiving general donations. In addition, the fraternities hosted more than a dozen “dine to donate” nights at local restaurants. The increasing success of this event is credited in part to the number of fans in attendance.
The brothers of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity practice before their annual charity football game on November 8 at Dix Stadium.
“This year we had our biggest turnout for the game,” said Michael Millard, junior Alpha Tau Omega brother. “More people came because they heard it was supporting a great cause like The Up Side of Downs.”
According to the National Down Syndrome Society website, one in every 691 babies is born with Down syndrome each year. Webb’s family is directly affected by Down syndrome and has been involved with The Up Side of Downs since 2008.
“I have a younger cousin who was born with Down syndrome,” Webb said. “When he was born, his mom went to The Up Side of Downs to get help and education, and she is now a board member there.”
A brother of Alpha Tau Omega holding the trophy after their win on Nov. 8 at Dix Stadium.
The brothers of Alpha Tau Omega have won the philanthropy football game for the past three years. Stanley Krulc III, junior, said the atmosphere of the game is something that everyone should experience at least once in their life.
“The most important thing for me [about the game] is the brotherhood aspect of it,” Krulc said. “The game every year is our biggest brotherhood because it brings us together, and no matter what problems we have, no matter what’s going on in our lives, we all just drop everything for that day, for those practices for the whole month, we just drop that and we are one person on that field.”
For more information about The Up Side of Downs, visit www.theupsideofdowns.org.
Rachel's Blog 