Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Issue date: 5/12/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Borowski, Jaclyn

On Saturday, Alpha Tau Omega hosted its annual Virgin Party, the culmination of a months-long fundraising effort that raked in between $13,000 and $14,000 for charity, said party coordinator John Savoy.

The event, which took place in the backyard of the Alpha Tau Omega chapter house on College Avenue, was advertised as an all-day music festival and featured local bands Watch Man Walk, Mission South, Matt Santry and Superland, formerly called Soul'd Out. During the event, attendees were offered free food from a grill and non-alcoholic frozen drinks.

Since the Virgin Party began in 2001, the event has grown steadily in both popularity on the campus and in total dollars raised. This year, almost 700 tickets were sold for either $8 or $10.

"People remember [the Virgin Party] now from year to year," Savoy said. "People have been coming up to me all year and asking me what bands are playing and stuff like that, which I think is pretty cool."

Other members of the fraternity agreed that this year's event may have been its most successful.

"I think this is the biggest one we've had so far," said Brian Keenan, a senior English and philosophy major and Alpha Tau Omega member.

Planning for the event started in the fall semester, when the fraternity began assembling sponsors and finding local bands to headline the event. The fraternity enlisted the financial help of Alpha Tau Omega chapters at James Madison University and Widener University and found corporate sponsors Vitamin Water and Lightning Wear, who provided T-shirts and drinks for the event.

Alpha Tau Omega also accepted contributions from more than half a dozen other Greek chapters at the university, and sent out donation requests to parents of the Alpha Tau Omega members in the months leading up to the event.

"They're really smart guys; I was impressed that the whole event ran so smoothly," said Alan VanToai, president of the Maryland Music Business Society, one of the sponsors of the event. VanToai is also the manager of Mission South, one of the bands that performed, and said the band "would absolutely be interested in coming back next year."

The money raised is to be split between two charities. The first, the HERO Campaign, was started by the parents of a drunk-driving victim and aims to promote the Designated Driver Program and harsher drunk-driving laws. The second is the Boomer Esiason Foundation, a charity which supports cystic fibrosis research.

"I think the concept is something that college kids can appreciate," Savoy said. "It's a bunch of people coming together to have a good time, but at the end of the day, there's something to show that goes toward a good cause."

tautedbk@gmail.com

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