Virginia Tech no match for UAlbany

[Dane Pound]

From the Collegiate Times I also like that the guy they interviewed is named Dane Yezek.

 

Pillow Fighting for a Good Cause

September 12th, 2006

Caitlin Plunkett, CT Staff Writer

 

 

Clad in various forms of attire from skirts to Tech sweats and even special pillow-fighting outfits that included mariachi hats, participants gathered around the designated pillow-fighting area in small groups.

When it got close to fighting time the members of Kappa Delta and Beta Theta Pi, started herding people in and then everybody went nuts, said to fourth year building construction major and Beta Theta Pi brother, Robert Copeland.

Pillows in hand, Virginia Tech students and other members of the Blacksburg community gathered on the Drillfield Sunday, Sept. 10, for the second annual pillow fight to raise money for the Coleman Collins Foundation.

The first pillow fight last year raised $2,000 for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. Kappa Delta sorority and Beta Theta Pi fraternity sponsored both pillow fights.

The goal for the sorority and fraternity was to break the world record for the world’s largest pillow fight. It is not known yet whether or not Virginia Tech has succeeded on its second try.

The estimated 1,500 participants last year were not enough to break the world record of 3,648 held by the State University of New York at Albany. The minimum $1 donations are going to United Way of Montgomery, Radford and Floyd Counties. Virginia Tech basketball star and graduate student Coleman Collins also helped generate attention for the event. Collins is one of two athletes who represent Tech in an Atlantic Coast Conference/United Way public service announcement.

The organizers said the pillow fight was more organized this year, with more emphasis on advertising to the community.

“We went to all the local schools in Montgomery County,” said Jen Appel, a senior accounting major who is also a member of the Kappa Delta sorority. That made a big difference, as there were many non-college-aged participants.

News of the first pillow fight traveled by word of mouth, intriguing members of the Blacksburg community including Nikki Luke, a freshman at Blacksburg High School.

“A friend of mine told me about it and said it was a lot of fun,” she said.

Copeland said they were made sure the event was safe.

“We check pillows for rocks and things,” he said.

Some participants were more enthusiastic, delivering blows to the face and head while others lingered on the outskirts, hoping to avoid being completely clobbered. Collins was a prime target for many of the younger kids who were there.

At the end of the fight, which Hot 100 FM radio provided music for, the pillow fighters launched their pillows straight up into the air. Appel was hoping to raise somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 for United Way.

According to sophomore university studies major Dane Yezek, students should try and attend the event next year because “it’s for a good cause.”