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USC undergrads snag top spot in the nation
after hauling in $100,001 for Huntsman Institute
(LOS ANGELES) – Even among all the other lofty accomplishments for the Alpha Upsilon chapter over generations, this new one is astonishing: USC undergrad brothers and pledges are at the top among all Sigma Chi chapters in raising donations this year for the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
2019-2020 Consul Skyler Radcliffe announced the Alpha Upsilon guys have raised $100,001, putting them ahead of 80 other chapters participating, including leapfrogging over the Sigs from the University of Utah now in second place at $79,047.07.
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"I'm so proud of our guys"
- Consul Skyler Radcliffe
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“We killed it. We really killed it,” said Radcliffe. “I’m so proud of our guys.” The competition among Sig chapters that raced to a dramatic conclusion this summer.
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The ongoing fundraising for the Huntsman Cancer Institute is part of the Sigma Chi general fraternity’s audacious commitment to raise $31 million for the Salt Lake City hospital and research center endowed by brother Jon Huntsman, who passed away in 2018. It is the largest charitable commitment
2019-20 Consul Skyler Radcliffe
made anywhere in the fraternity world – ever.
When Radcliffe and the other chapter officers left the annual Krach leadership training workshop summer 2019, they were feeling sky high with enthusiasm, setting a very high goal of $100,000. "We're not
settling for anything else." Then they had to figure out how the heck they'd actually achieve it.
Radcliffe says the most they’d raised previously was $20,000. They hit the ground rolling in September with an email-a-thon, fueled by “a lot of pizza throughout the house.” When they brought in a couple thousand dollars that first day, they set their sights on their first event: Parents Weekend, with a silent auction for things donated by parents like wine or a weekend at a mountain cabin.
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“We were slowly climbing to $20,000, $30,000,” Radcliffe said. “Then we got some big matches” from alums and others. The money started rolling in. A $15,000 cash donation brought in $15,000 in
matching donations.
He praised Simon Cantor and Shawn Mahoney, both pledges at the time, for sending thousands of emails and bringing in about $20,000.
Radcliffe says it gave the brothers extra pride to know that the broader USC community, which often views fraternities as “a bunch of noisy frat guys” got to see what they can do for charity.
“All credit and thanks and blessings to the donors,” he says. “It was really, really amazing to see.”
Our undergraduate brothers raised $100,001 for the Sigma Chi Huntsman Challenge, tops among all Sig chapter in North America, sending all the funds to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
