SIGEP CREATED THE CAN'T-MISS EVENT OF THE YEAR
By Phil Nobile, ‘13

The Quinnipiac Chapter has a philanthropy event that has become part of the university’s tradition: Hall Wars.

“Hall Wars is a daylong event on the quad that involves the entire freshman class at Quinnipiac,” Chapter President Alex Forman, ’12, said. “They fight for bragging rights of who has the best freshman hall among their class.”

Completing their seventh annual Hall Wars this past September, the chapter raised over $10,000 for the Aids Project New Haven. Over 1,000 freshman students participated in this year’s event— more than three quarters of the freshman population at Quinnipiac.

The event pits each freshman residence hall against one another in a battle of strength and wits, with an array of sports played to decide who will reign. Throughout the day, students compete in everything from volleyball and basketball to dodgeball and tug-of-war. The final event is an all-out relay race across Quinnipiac’s quad.

The event was created in 2005 by founding Connecticut Epsilon brother and vice president of recruitment Andy Turczak, ‘07. In true legacy fashion, Andy’s younger brother Mark Turczak, ’12, took charge as Hall Wars chair, leading to one of the most successful Hall Wars to date.

“There was some sense of you have to keep the family tradition. I’ve always loved some sibling competition to put on the best event,” Mark said.

The competition also gives SigEp an early leg up on recruitment. By allowing early interaction between the freshman classes and brothers of the chapter, connections are immediately made, creating higher turnout rates during spring recruitment than any other fraternity.

Each brother holds an important role throughout the week— anything from providing music, working the grill, refereeing sports or working the dunk tank.

Ask any Quinnipiac senior or young alumnus if they remember their Hall Wars and most likely they’ll still have their team T-shirt.

“For Connecticut Epsilon, I feel that it shows what can be done when you work together, not just as a group of brothers but as a chapter working with many organizations at the school,” Turczak said. “It’s a really good experience to show them what our Fraternity is all about.”

Back to the Sound Bite >