The Iota Delta chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity will be hosting the first “G. I. Theta Chi” philanthropy event on campus in order to raise money for the United Services Organization (USO). The USO is a private, nonprofit, congressionally chartered organization that supports the troops and their families as they return home.
“The idea was first done by another chapter in Florida, and other chapters around the country are catching on. Many have done it, so we decided to give it a shot,” said Jeremy Watson, the president of the Iota Delta chapter. “It originated in Florida from a brother who was involved in the Armed Forces. The brother who started it, when he came back from where he was stationed, he got first-hand experience with the USO with the treatment they gave him, so when he came back he decided to host an event to raise money directly for the USO because he saw how much it affected the guys around him and the families of those guys.”
 “G. I. Theta Chi” will take place on April 26 across campus. Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m., and the activities will take place from 10:30 a.m. through 3 p.m.
“It’s going to be held on Southeastern’s campus,” said Watson. “As of right now, we did talk with Student Activities, and we told them we want all the way from the North Oak Park to the Student Union mall.”
The event will host a variety of boot camp events, including a large obstacle course and a tug-of-war. According to Watson, “G. I. Theta Chi” will be like a real boot camp except less extreme and much more fun.
“We’ve never done this before, but every chapter that I’ve spoken to that does this and does it annually said it’s a blast and everybody enjoys it,” said Watson. “Every year they get more and more people to do it. Kind of like Swamp Bowl here. It started out small and now it’s kind of a bigger thing on campus.”
Those wishing to participate in the event can register for $15, which includes a t-shirt, free food and drinks. Students should register in teams of 10 to compete, and the teams with the highest scores for all of the boot camp activities will be awarded prizes.
Watson believes there are several things that will make the event interesting from the blow-up obstacle course to a possible guest appearance by the National Guard.
“I’m almost positive the National Guard is going to be landing a black hawk out here,” said Watson. “We got in touch with them. One of our brothers is actually involved in the National Guard, and he got to talking with somebody pretty high up there, and they said that they were coming out to actually measure where they could land the black hawk around here.”
Students are encouraged to join the “G. I. Theta Chi” Facebook event in order to remain up to date on event details. For more information, contact Theta Chi president Jeremy Watson at [email protected]. For additional information about the USO, visit www.uso.org.