By Amanda De Lauzon
Staff Reporter
“My ATO brothers are different, but different in the best way possible,” said junior and philanthropy chair of Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), Liam O’Donnell. “None of us fall into the typical mold for what most people think a frat guy looks and acts like, and all of us are very passionate about everything we do.”
On March 11, ATO, the fraternity that came to Sacred Heart University at the beginning of this year, hosted their first event, “Laughs for Awareness”. All of the proceeds from this event went towards the fraternity’s philanthropy, The Will to Live Foundation.
This comedy show created and hosted by O’Donnell consisted of three acts from three different Greek organizations competing for $100. The performers were ATO’s Intramural Chairman Will Pesek, from Theta Phi Alpha’s Briana Rauchfuss, and Beta Theta Pi’s comedy duo Matt Andriunas and Steven Lucero.
The winners from Beta Theta Pi won $100 towards their philanthropy and ATO raised $500 towards their own.
ATO’s philanthropy, The Will to Live Foundation, is an organization that brings awareness to suicide prevention in teens and young adults.
“To me, it touches home. In my home town, I lost my quarterback, a cheerleader and a wrestling partner to suicide,” said junior and president of ATO, Scott Miller.
According to the Connecticut Courant, “In 2017, 11.5 in 100,000 Connecticut residents, 75 percent of them male, died by suicide. It was a record 402 deaths by suicide, up from 388 in 2016.”
“I believe that a fraternity choosing mental health is significant because it begins to dismantle a lot of toxic masculinity that has taught men to hide their emotions in fear of being perceived as weak,” said O’ Donnell.
So why a comedy event?
“Comedy for some can be something that gets them through the hard days,” said Miller. “Sometimes the saddest people are the ones who want to make everyone laugh and feel happy. I believe that having a comedy show complemented this belief greatly.”
“I liked that the show was funny and lighthearted but still brought attention to serious issues that aren’t talked about enough,” said junior Jessica Wagner. “Also, it’s always funny to see someone get a shoe thrown at them for making fun of Long Island.”
The winner, Beta Theta Pi, had a comedy routine about where Sacred Heart students are from and the difference between them. Jokes were made about Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. One audience member even got so defensive about his hometown, that he jokingly threw a shoe at the performer.
The show had a lot of audience participation and people even played a game where they had to tell dad jokes while trying not to laugh.
“We did the best that we could with the cards that we had and I feel that the event was as good as a first event can be,” said Miller. “In the future, I see another comedy show with more acts possibly in the Edgerton Theater.”
The fraternity will continue to grow and support suicide prevention and mental health in their events to come.
“We’re 25 men who wouldn’t normally be together,” said Miller. “We are brought together through one goal and that is growing ATO to be the best fraternity that it can be.”
