Anchor Splash raises more than $18K for charity

Each year Delta Gamma’s Anchor Splash is an opportunity to raise much-needed funds for a philanthropy - and have a lot of fun doing it.

Denison has taken to the Anchor Splash like a duck to water. We take a dive into Anchor Splash culture with Brooke Stiles ‘20, director of this year’s event.

Tell us about the Anchor Splash tradition.

Anchor Splash has always been a big deal to Delta Gamma women in our Beta Zeta chapter. Our philanthropy is unique in the sense that all of the Greek community becomes heavily involved in it, which I feel brings us all closer.

We pride ourselves on the fact that other organizations have told us they notice their member classes getting closer through the dance practices, which we think is awesome because we are able to enhance everyone else’s experience in their respective sororities/fraternities.

Everyone looks forward to participating in the jar competition, as well as buying the t-shirts that always have fun/unique designs on them! We always determine the winner through a tally of points throughout the week. Groups receive points through the jar competition, pre-ordering shirts, buying t-shirts, making online donations, buying raffle tickets, donating box tops, glasses, or towels, buying cupcakes from a local baker, and lastly (our favorite) through taking a selfie with a DG the Friday before Anchor Splash. We all wear our Anchor Splash shirts that are the same design as everyone else’s, but a different color, and everyone will take a selfie with us. That day is a blast because we are able to interact with others in the Greek community who we may not normally interact with! This year, we encouraged others in the Greek community to wear their letters on that Friday by incentivizing more points for each selfie taken if they wore their letters. For the fraternities, the DG coaches get to choreograph their dances, which is always hysterical to watch! We also always have great prizes for our raffle drawings that we do the day of Anchor Splash; this year, we raffled off tickets to COSI, opening night of the Columbus Crew game, tickets to SnowTrails, and many more!
How many people participated?

All NPC (Panhellenic Council) and IFC (Interfraternity Council) organizations were involved in Anchor Splash. NPHC (National Panhellenic Council) and MGC (Multicultural Greek Council) groups were not able to participate due to rules they have through their National Offices and time crunches. Every year we fill the Mitchell pool with people! Individuals who are not affiliated are welcomed to attend and participate throughout the week in our various competitions; however, they do not participate in the relays or the dance competitions.
Can you share the financial outcome and where is it going?

Of course! So we were able to raise a little over $18,000 for our philanthropy, Service for Sight! The money will be going to the Licking County Center for the Visually Impaired and also to the Delta Gamma Foundation. Both of these help a plethora of people in very different ways. We are happy we could raise this to help both our community and sisters across the nation!
What kind of things do you learn when you coordinate a big event like this?

There are so many things to learn from planning this. The biggest thing for me is truly realizing the incredible support group of women you have backing you. I was so nervous going in to the planning of all of this as Director of Anchor Splash ( I started planning for it back in March!), but the minute I was elected into the position, I had a whole host of women supporting me.

The Anchor Splash Director from last year (now a CDC for Delta Gamma) was so incredible in answering all of my questions through texts and phone calls and helped guide me through the process. The sisters in the house were constantly advocating on my behalf, texting me to ask if there was anything more they could do, and just sending me the much needed words of encouragement. Without my sisters, this event would not have been nearly as successful as it was.

Apart from learning just truly how loved and supported I am by my sisters, I was also able to learn how connected the Denison community is. For a small school as Denison is, we pack a powerful punch when it comes to philanthropy! All hands are on deck and the community comes together to work in some very incredible ways.
Anything else you want to add?

Just a huge ol’ thank you to Denison University and the community of Granville for helping us orchestrate a successful event like Anchor Splash to help so many people. Alfie’s and Whit’s have been huge supporters since the beginning, and we appreciate all the help they give us! This has been an absolutely incredible experience, and we can’t wait to do it all over again next year!