//
The brothers at the University of Memphis raised 11,000 dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital through their annual haunted house event.
“SigEp Haunted House is our annual fall fundraiser,” says Eric Bourgeois, ‘16. “It’s by far one of the largest and most popular events in the community. This year we stepped it up a notch.”
In late August, the brothers began reaching out to local and family businesses that serve college-aged students. Businesses were offered different levels of sponsorship packages. Each level came with a different number of tickets to the event, accompanying t-shirts, and logo placement on event materials.
“We received sponsorships and donations from all over the state of Tennessee,” says Michael Maxey, ‘15. “It’s amazing how much support we get each year.”
Support also came from a Tennessee Beta alumnus who runs a local advertising company.
“Our alumnus runs our radio segments for free in exchange for our participation with the Angel Tree program for underprivileged Memphis children in December,” says Bourgeois. “We’re able to get free promotion by continuing to give back to the community.”
The chapter also put their public relations skills to the test by reaching out to local television stations. Bourgeois and Maxey appeared live on the ABC affiliate in Memphis to discuss SigEp Haunted House and explain its importance to the surrounding community.
The publicity made it easier to advertise in the community and local schools. This gave them an opportunity to add a special time slot to tone down the scares for children. With the buzz going around, it was then time to build the haunted house.
Landon McAllister, ‘15, was at the helm, ensuring that every floor in the house was covered with cardboard, and the walls and floor were canvassed in black tarp.
“Once the house is covered, we bring in wooden beams to construct walls that divide the chapter room into separate rooms,” says McAllister. “Each room is then offered to the sororities on campus.”
SigEp assigns brothers to coach the different sororities to help them decide on themes and assist with the construction of the rooms. An additional room was built this year to allow another fraternity in on the action.
“This year we invited the brothers of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) to participate,” says Maxey. “I believe that this serves as a testament to how far we’ve come in terms of increasing our inter-fraternalism within the Memphis community.”
//
On the nights of the event, a masked SigEp guide walks groups through the house and sets the pace to ensure the safety of guests. At the conclusion of the tour, attendees vote on the room they believe was the scariest.
“The sororities compete for points through the following categories: scariest room, best costume design and most money raised,” says Bourgois. “It creates friendly competition that drives sororities to participate in our event.”
Through record-breaking sponsorships, donations, ticket sales and t-shirt sales, the chapter is on their way to being the top fundraising fraternity on campus for the third year in a row. Last year the chapter raised 5,150 dollars for the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
Leave a Reply