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Phi Delta Omega sorority continues sexual assault awareness tradition

Apr. 27, 2021

Lakeland University’s Phi Delta Omega sorority hosts Sexual Assault Awareness Week (SAAW) every April to raise awareness for victims of sexual assault.

The week includes fundraising for a charity, and this year’s beneficiary was the Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization, which serves members of the community who are often marginalized, disadvantaged, underserved and underrepresented.

Throughout the week, sorority members were in the Younger Family Campus Center with teal apparel and sign-ups for the week’s activities. The Daily Grind assisted in bringing awareness by offering blue-frosted cupcakes and a designated drink for the first day of SAAW Week.

The week included:

• Monday was Denim Day. National Denim Day this year is April 28 and students, faculty and staff are encouraged to participate if they missed Lakeland’s designated day. Check https://www.denimdayinfo.org/ for more information about sexual assault awareness.
• Tuesday was candle vigil in the Ley Chapel.
• Wednesday was a Sexual Assault Awareness Kahoot held in the Campus Center Event Space, as well as Bra-Pong to win raffle tickets for gift baskets, and a Condom Garden to promote safe sex.
• Thursday was Egg-A-Phi Delt and 180 eggs were available for purchase as Phi Delts took turns getting eggs cracked and on their heads. “This event has taken its place next to similar Greek fundraisers like Zeta Chi’s Kiss-A-Fish and Pi Kappa Gamma’s Pie-A-Pi Kapp to raise money for charity while having a few laughs with our faculty and fellow students,” said Phi Delta Omega Vice President Heather Vrba.
• Friday was a kickball game at Taylor Field and a fun social wrap-up of what was accomplished during the week.

Phi Delta Omega has previously held a 5K Teal Out Run the last day of SAAW week. This year, the group tried something new to accommodate COVID-19 as well as have even more fun. The sorority partnered with the Zeta Chi fraternity for a 10-hour charity stream on Twitch where participants played games, talked about the week and had raffles on-stream all while raising money.

“The stream was extremely successful and helped us spread Sexual Assault Awareness to people off-campus and outside of Wisconsin,” Vrba said. “Thanks to generous donations from alumni, friends and anonymous patrons, we raised $384.69 from the stream alone. Added to the earnings from the rest of the week, we are happy to present a $1,000 check to The Sheboygan County Interfaith Organization.”

This year’s Phi Delts hope the excitement and impact of their efforts continues in future years. “Thank you so much to my sisters and brothers in PDO and ZX for their overwhelming support and effort, as well as to Lakeland and President Beth Borgen for being so supportive of our cause,” Vrba said.