Egg a Tau, Paint a Turtle

BOONE, NC–Appalachian students gather around Sanford Mall to pay to throw eggs at the Fraternity brothers of Alpha Tau Omega.

A sunny day on campus leads to a fun afternoon at the hub of campus life, Sanford Mall. The Alpha Tau Omega fraternity of Appalachian State University partnered with the sisters of Delta Zeta to raise money for Delta Zeta’s philanthropy.

The “Egg a Tau and Paint a Turtle,” event was held on March 30 in the middle of Sanford Mall. Members from Greek organizations shouted across the campus to get students to pay $1 to throw a raw egg at a Fraternity brother.

“Our philanthropy is Speech and Hearing, and our national partner is the American Society for Deaf Children,” Camryn Crump said, a Delta Zeta sister.

The American Society for Deaf Children has been supporting and educating those with hearing disabilities since 1967. ASDC has learning programs where they teach American Sign Language and hosts weekend events.

An event like this on campus benefits Delta Zeta in spreading awareness and educating students on the impact it has on children.

“The goal of these philanthropic events is to raise money of course but also have fun on campus and become increasingly social on campus and in Greek life,” Wolma said.

Delta Zeta also partners with local philanthropy the Appalachian Communication Disorder Clinic. All the proceeds collected from the Egg a Tau event went towards each philanthropy.

According to Alpha Tau Omega’s philanthropy chair, Hunter Wolma, they earned $473 from the “Egg a Tau and Paint a Turtle” event. $378.61 went towards the Painted Turtle Camp. Located in California, the Painted Turtle Camp is for kids with life-threatening conditions to just have fun.

On top of their donation to the Painted Turtle Camp, Alpha Tau Omega and Delta Zeta donated $47.33 to the Delta Zeta Foundation as well as $47.33 to the Appalachian Communication and Disorders Clinic

“Typically we choose different philanthropy for every event to spread it out. Because we were working with Delta Zeta, I allowed them to choose the foundation for this past event,” Wolma said.

“This is the first time we’ve done this event and it’s been really successful,” Alex Morrow said. Within the first hour of the event, they almost raised $100 for their philanthropy.

Philanthropy means a lot to both Greek organizations, “ Philanthropy means a lot to me and my organization, we love giving back and making a positive impact in the community,” Austin Bower said, a brother of Alpha Tau Omega.

Generally, Delta Zeta did an event similar to this in the past where participants could pay $2 to throw a water balloon at a sister, they thought that throwing an egg at a Fraternity brother would be more enticing and satisfying.

Alex Marrow could be found at the edge of Sanford Mall shouting at the top of her lungs to come and throw a raw egg in a Frat boy's face for a good cause. Needless to say, she was successful since there was already a crowd within the first 10 minutes of the event, which only grew as the time went on.

Due to stricter guidelines for the National level of these Greek Organizations, sororities have less freedom to choose which foundations and other organizations they would like to donate to.

Delta Zeta has been officially partnered with the American Society for Deaf Children since late 2020. Through this partnership, members of the Delta Zeta sorority have been able to learn American Sign Language and get a stronger understanding of the deaf culture

One important aspect that these larger Greek organizations would like others to take away is the importance of philanthropy and giving back to national and local organizations or foundations. Greek life is not just a title or not all about their social events, like mixers. The American Society for Deaf Children, Speech and Hearing, and Appalachian Communication and Disorders Clinic is an important part of Delta Zeta and the popularity of this event allowed them to give back in a major way.

Due to the greater success of the “Egg a Tau, Paint a Turtle,” event, they hope to make this an annual event on Sanford Mall.