I just imitated a helicopter. Clearly, this weekend came in the nick of time. To retrieve my sense of dignity I will tell you about Sigma Rho Delta’s annual gift.
I am a member of Sigma Rho, the honorary dance fraternity. It is open to all dance majors and minors who hold a certain GPA and perform service hours to the department. Since the organization is a service fraternity, it was only natural that talk of a yearly endowment or donation would have been in the works for some time.
Last year, as the pledge trainer, I attended officer meetings and was part of the discussion of the annual gift. We discussed who should receive it, on what terms they should receive it, how much they should receive… The list of concerns seemed to stretch into infinity, and I was joining the conversation late, as this idea had been bandied about for a while. Then, at the end of my sophomore spring, Sigma Rho did it: It donated a portion of its proceeds at the Nutcracker and Swan Lake boutiques to help fund the dance department’s first-ever summer trip to China.
This year, however, we have gone outside the university. Our philanthropy chair visited various dance schools and institutions, and at the last chapter the organization voted to donate $6,000 to the Jordan Academy of Dance. While JCAD is officially affiliated with Butler, Butler does not provide the dance school with any money, and JCAD has to pay rent for its space at the edge of Butler property.
As our Sigma Rho president wrote to the associate director of JCAD, “We were blessed this year to have the most successful Nutcracker boutique in our history, and because of this, we are able to donate $6,000 to the Jordan Academy of Dance. The mission of Sigma Rho Delta is to sustain the purpose of dance within our department, the University and within our community. We hope that with this gift your organization will be able to further the dance education of your students and contribute to the richness of arts in Indianapolis.”
Donating such a large sum is a huge success for Sigma Rho and owes thanks to officers and members both past and present. Strengthening the community beyond the Butler Bubble is an important aspect of college life that we sometimes forget, being so busy and wrapped up in our own issues. I’m proud to say I’m part of an organization like Sigma Rho Delta.
