Stumbling upon a game of pong on a Thursday night is not surprising for most students — unless the game is in Houston Hall.
Thursday night, Sigma Nu held its first-ever pong tournament, allowing teams to “Sink One For St. Jude.”
The 10-cup water-pong tournament featured a bracket of 16 teams battling for the title of ultimate pong champion on campus.
Each of the two-member teams paid a $20 entrance fee and all of the money raised will go to the children’s research hospital St. Jude.
St. Jude is one of three charities that is part of the national Sigma Nu organization’s Helping Hands Initiative.
Sigma Nu Vice President and Community Service Chairman Adam Shore, a College junior, said Sigma Nu wanted to support that cause because charities like research hospitals are often hit much harder than other charities during an economic crisis.
Shore said the concept for the event was to take a fraternity pastime that is generally considered unproductive and to put a new spin on it, giving players “something to fight for.”
College junior Manoj Racherla, a member of one of the water-pong teams, agreed.
“I think this event is a great idea because it’s something you would usually do on the weekend, but this tournament is for a great cause,” he said. “It was a good time with great people.”
In preparation for the event, the brothers of Sigma Nu built brand new pong tables, one of which they manned on Locust Walk throughout the past week. Passersby were able to pay $1 per shot for a chance to win a Chipotle gift card.
In addition to the tournament, the event featured live music from the band Outset, food donated from Chipotle and three pong-shooting competitions to win raffle tickets.
Raffle prizes included gift certificates to local restaurants, Philadelphia Eagles memorabilia and a free night at the Hyatt Hotel in Center City.
The winning team, consisting of College sophomores Daniel Gromer and Jon Kayne, took home a free Kaplan course and a paintball game for 20 players.
Although Engineering junior Rylan Collins’ team lost in the first round, he said he was not upset.
“I don’t care because I still feel like I came away a winner,” he said. “Everyone won tonight.”
Shore said the event, which raised $552 for St. Jude, was a great success.
“We had a good turnout and it was a lot of fun,” he said.
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