The UNC chapter of Sigma Chi fraternity raised over $20,000 in donations for the UNC Children’s Research Institute during its Derby Days philanthropy week.
The annual Sigma Chi tradition, held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 4, includes multiple fundraising events in support of a charitable cause.
UNC sophomoreDabney Hughes, co-director of this year’s philanthropy week, said the over $20,000 raised were “unprecedented for recent times.” The fraternity raised over $7,000 in 2023 and over $12,000 in 2024.
Hughes said he spoke with alumni who had raised more than $40,000 for the initiative in the ’90s and early 2000s, which inspired the fraternity to push harder to build a system to reach this year’s fundraising goal.
Derby Days has been a hallmark tradition of Sigma Chi’s nationwide philanthropic initiatives since the 1930s.The UNC chapter’s events this year consisted of a powderpuff football game, vintage clothing fair, sorority cookout, car wash and alumni cookout. The week also featured musical performances from bands Eternally Grateful and For The Record, as well as performances from artists Jackson Slater and Charlie Lunsford.
Hughes said that this year’s focus was on creating products to drive revenue and campaigning for individual donations. In addition to its events, the fraternity also held a t-shirt fundraising drive where vendors were invited to sell clothing in the yard.
Multiple Greek organizations across campus participated, including Kappa Delta, who was recognized as the most involved sorority throughout the week. The sorority received a $1,000 check from Sigma Chi to contribute to their own philanthropic efforts.
UNC junior Matthew Braun, the treasurer of the chapter, said that while the charity of choice has typically been the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, Hughes wanted this year’s initiative to be something local and connected to the UNC community.
“I think that we have several brothers and former members who utilized the children’s hospital and who had health complications — like one of our former presidents had ganglioglioma, which is a rare form of brain cancer,” Braun said. “So we thought that doing something in terms of research and the hospital here would be a great way to raise money.”
On Oct. 22, the fraternity brothers met with hospital representatives at the UNC Health Foundation to present the donation. UNC Children’s Hospital later shared a Facebook post stating that the donation would benefit the UNC Children’s Research Institute, which funds local pediatric research and care across North Carolina.
Corinne Keet, vice chair of Clinical and translational research in the Institute’s pediatrics department, said that unlike institutional grants that are focused on a specific area, donations such as Sigma Chi’s can be applied to benefit entry-level researchers.
“It does have a lot of impact,” she said. “With $20,000, we would be able to fund part of a staff member to help support people doing research. We in the past — and we hope to in the future — have been able to give pilot awards through the support of donations. I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to do that this year, but if we are able to do that, those [donations] can really help catalyze much larger grants.”
