Treasurer and Philanthropy Chair of Kappa Alpha Order fraternity Peyton Hanegan assists in making the free meals that KAO served to police officers as part of “KA Backs the Blue.” Zachary Araki/The Lion’s Roar

Kappa Alpha Order fraternity held a fundraiser to show their support for the University Police Department and Hammond Police Department.

“KA Backs the Blue” was held at the fraternity house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 22.

“This event was held to show support for the police officers of the area and to give back to the Southeastern police department for all they do for the Greek community,” said Treasurer and Philanthropy Chair of KAO Peyton Hanegan, a junior industrial technology major. “Since they have to come to events for us, like socials, this is to raise money for them and their needs as well as show our appreciation for everything that they do for us as well as for the Greek community and school as a whole.”

UPD Police Officer A-2 Jourdan Hatcher enjoyed seeing the support shown by the fraternity.

“We’re just very appreciative to the organization for having us over and recognizing us,” said Hatcher. “There’s a lot going on in the nation today, a lot of negativity towards police, and anytime we can get out in the community and interact, positive interaction, is a great thing.”

President of KAO Tyler Olivier, a junior marketing major, discussed how having the event for its first year went.

“We got a lot of support from outreach and alumni,” said Olivier. “We were able to get some of the police officers out here to get some free meals and everything. This was our first year doing it. I think it was really successful in that it let us get the wheels in motion on having the event being able to be set up easier next year and learning how to market it better and get it out there to more people.”

With some of the fraternity members becoming police officers themselves, the fraternity decided to show how much they appreciate the professionals.

“They haven’t been getting as much of their highlights shown in the media as any sort of low lights they get,” said Olivier. “It’s put everywhere. I think it’s good for them to know that, just for everyone to see that there are still people out there 100 percent backing the blue and that it’s not just kind of forgotten. It’s a little bit of a reminder to them that they are appreciated.”

Hanegan discussed the preparation that began in December to hold the fundraiser.

“Our president, Tyler Olivier, pitched the idea of having something for the Southeastern police department, and then I took it from there and ran with it,” said Hanegan. “I started by getting raffle items donated by alumni and people close to us, who would like to remain anonymous, then preparing raffle tickets.”

Hanegan shared his thoughts on the fundraiser.

Hanegan said, “We are glad that we can do this event and hope that this can be a yearly thing with the SELU police department to show them that we do support them and all police officers because these people keep us safe on a daily basis and don’t always get the recognition that they deserve. The funds will help the Southeastern police department in whatever they need, but to us, it’s more to show them that we appreciate all the things that they do for us from Greek life to every day in protecting us.”