The third annual Scholars Cup raised a record-breaking $13,194 for charity this academic year, with Science, Discovery and the Universe named the winner of the 2016 Scholars Cup.
The Scholars Cup is a community-wide fundraising competition for charity and a series of competitive events.
“The Scholars Cup attempts to capture the best of the Scholars community by harnessing a spirit of fun, friendly competition and raise money for charities,” said Scholars Assistant Director Ben Parks. “It serves as a vehicle to bring Scholars programs together to build community, which is as the heart of Scholars.”
Each of the 12 Scholars programs accumulate points for students participating in events and raise funds for a charity that they select. Fundraising continues to soar each year since the Cup began in 2013, up from $9,000 last year.
Programs put money into a pool before the culminating tournament in May – a kickball tournament this year – and a portion of the money is awarded to four charities on behalf of the top teams.
Students across programs raised money by working concessions at athletic events, hosting sports tournaments, and breaking into teams that sold water, donuts, and grilled cheese, among other efforts.
Public Leadership raised $4,324 during the year, the most money raised by a single Scholars program to date.
The charity tournament has been a hallmark of College Park Scholars since 1996, long before the additional events were added to launch the Scholars Cup. This year, the tournament transitioned from an 18-year tradition of softball by substituting kickball, in order to encourage participation from Scholars who have no experience playing softball or baseball.
“Kickball was awesome. I think the transition from softball to kickball went over extremely well and it drew out people who did not attend last year for fear of softball,” said a team captain in an anonymous survey.
Media, Self and Society won the kickball tournament to secure the program’s first win in the charity tournament since 2003.
The Scholars Cup will be awarded to SDU during the 2016 Scholars Convocation in August.
The final standings and donations for the 19th Annual Charity Tournament:
First Place: $1,000 to Book Aid International played for by Media, Self & Society;
Second Place: $400 to Mountain Top Music Center played for by Business, Society & the Economy;
Third Place: $250 to A Wider Circle played for by Justice & Legal Thought; and
Fourth Place: $150 to Food Recovery Network played for by Environment, Technology & Economy