Greek Chapters Plan For Charity Concert

Fraternities working together? It sounds crazy, but that’s just what’s happening this fall as nine fraternities and sororities have joined forces to plan one of the biggest Greek philanthropy events Cornell has ever seen: Concert Crawl.
This Saturday night from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. there will be concerts at four fraternity houses on West (Psi Upsilon, Sigma Phi, Phi Psi, and Delta Tau Delta) with all of the proceeds going to St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.
Everyone’s invited, but to get inside, you’ll need to buy a Concert Crawl T-shirt. They are on sale for $10 at RPCC, Ho Plaza, and outside Trillium starting today through Friday. Another sponsor, Delta Phi, will be holding after hours on Saturday to celebrate the success of the event.
Last spring, Psi Upsilon member Jonathan Feldman ’08 was inspired to action after hearing a woman and her daughter speak about the powerful impact of St. Jude’s.
“It was very moving for me on a personal level,” Feldman remembered. He then developed the idea for a benefit concert hosted by the Greek community. The response to his idea was universal: “Everybody loved it,” he said. He spoke with brothers whose family members had been to St. Jude’s, and met Ithaca residents who had been to the hospital.
Originally, he imagined the concert in the parking lot between Psi Upsilon and Sigma Phi, but there proved to be too many safety concerns. The idea then shifted to a series of indoor concerts, where attendants could move from house to house. This year, Feldman began the planning about two weeks after classes started by gathering a steering team with members from each of the nine chapters.
In addition to the fraternities involved, Kappa Alpha Theta, Kappa Kappa Gamma, Delta Gamma, and Alpha Phi are also sponsoring the event. The houses came together in an effort to show that Cornell’s Greek system has the power and the ambition to aid a worthy cause.
Feldman explained, “It’s unheard of for nine chapters to work together, but we made it happen.” He also commented on the stereotypes that the Greek community is constantly fighting and hopes that this will help to better the Greek system’s overall reputation.
“This is basically us trying to redefine the Greek system,” agreed Madeline Chan ’07, president of Delta Gamma.
Thus far, the bands playing are as diverse as the chapters involved: an 80’s rock band, a Beatles cover band, and a Pearl Jam cover band. The fourth band is still being determined.
This year, they are looking to raise $10,000 for St. Jude’s; according to Feldman, thousands of dollars have already been raised. Feldman also has high hopes for next year, when he aims to raise $100,000 for St. Jude’s.
“The vision is a lot bigger,” Feldman explained. “We are looking to attract a mainstream musical artist.”
If this year the concert is crawling, then next year it’s learning to walk.