A week at the races

Sigma Chi brought together almost every Towson sorority during their annual Derby Days, which consists of events and activities to benefit their philanthropy.

Through Derby Days events, the chapter contributed more than $2,000 to the Children’s Miracle Network, according to Sigma Chi president Matthew Galati.

The Children’s Miracle Network exists to raise funding for more than 170 children’s hospitals. 

“The purpose of the week is to raise as much money as possible for the kids while having fun doing it,” Galati said.

The “Penny Wars” event took place throughout the week with jars stationed in the University Union.

Galati said different sororities competed against each other to accumulate the most amount of money in the jars. Spare change was positive points, one point per coin, and dollars were counted as negative one hundred points toward other participating sororities. 

The chapter also held their brother auction in Paws, where sorority sisters purchased brothers to take them on a date. 

The brothers were auctioned for $8 to $200.

Galati said the brother auction alone raised more than $1,400.

This year’s Derby Days lacked a Derby Pageant. Galati said the fraternity traditionally hosts a Derby Pageant but it did not occur this year because they could not reserve room space. 

Custom Derby Days T-shirts were also sold as another way to raise money for the philanthropy.

According to Galati, Derby Days is not just a Towson University tradition but is a common Sigma Chi tradition practiced by each chapter across the country.

“When the event started in the early 1900s, brothers would wear Derby Hats and sorority girls would try and steal their hats for points,” he said.

This year, Alpha Omicron Pi won the event.