Kappa Alpha Order raised $3,000 for the University Police Department at their fundraiser “KA Backs the Blue.” KAO raised about $4,500 in total, and they took a small portion out for their organization and donated the rest to UPD.
President of Kappa Alpha Order Tyler Olivier, Treasurer and Philanthropy Chair Peyton Hanegan and Alumni Faculty Advisor for KAO Gerard Laborde presented the check to Director of UPD Harold Todd in front of the UPD office on April 30.
According to Olivier, KAO came up with the idea to have the fundraiser because they feel that the image of the police portrayed through the mass media has been negative and does not show the good things that police officers do. KAO wanted to show their support for law enforcement and gratitude for what the police officers do.
“We have a lot of members who have relatives that are in some sort of police force,” said Olivier. “We just see a lot of negative attention that they have been getting lately. We just want to show that there are people still out there who are all for backing the blue. Regardless of what is going on, we understand that there will always be good policemen out there doing what they need to do to keep people safe.”
KAO hopes to continue to show their support for UPD by making the fundraiser a yearly event.