The Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity raised money to combat domestic violence at Brower Commons on the College Avenue campus Friday.
"We are raising money to fight domestic violence at Rutgers," said College of Pharmacy sophomore Ryan Albano, chairperson of AKL's Philanthropy Committee.
AKL raised money on the Cook/Douglass campus Monday and Tuesday and set up a table in Brower from Wednesday through Friday, Albano said.
"This is our second philanthropy event," he said.
AKL raised money for the Children's Aids Network earlier in the semester, he said.
Members of the fraternity siad they were supportive of the effort.
"I think it's a great cause," said Livingston College sophomore and AKL member Chris Brickhead.
Brickhead said the event, which was also sponsored by Sigma Delta Tau, exposes AKL's ideals and puts fraternities "on the map" as philanthropic organizations.
Rutgers College sophomore and fellow member Ryan Urgo agreed.
"It's good because an event like this lets people see that fraternities do more than just parties," he said.
Urgo said that he believes AKL and many other fraternities are organizations that promote health and safety on campus.
"We are more than just a social organization," he said.
Albano said AKL planned the event after their national chapter suggested organizing a similar function.
"Our national chapter sent us information. I looked it over and thought it would be good," Albano said.
But Albano decided to keep the money at the University and organized a University fund-raising event, he said.
AKL decided to donate the proceeds of the event to the department of Sexual Assault Services and Crime Victim Assistance.
"I asked if they would like to accept the money that they are raising. They were very pleased to hear that we were interested," Albano said.
Rutgers College first-year Milagros Cortes said she believed that the AKL event positively reflects fraternities.
"I think it is great," she said. "I think we should have more fraternities that do that."
Cortes said students in fraternities need to have focused goals like philanthropy to prevent them from becoming to isolated from the University community.
Be the first to comment on this article!