Circle of Life brings Greek Challenge

As Kevin MacCauley was preparing for a midterm and final exam one year, he discovered a lump on his body. Though it was diagnosed as a benign cyst, the experience changed his perspective on cancer.\n"I had the realization that people go through this every day -- people our age," MacCauley, a junior, said.\nKnowing that paying for college and medical bills is difficult for many cancer survivors, MacCauley wanted to relieve a survivor of the financial burden. His organization -- Circle of Life -- and the greek community will provide a full-ride scholarship to a cancer survivor. \nTo raise money for the scholarship, Circle of Life and the Greek Council created the Greek Challenge, an inaugural event which officially began Thursday night at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Each fraternity and sorority receives points for their members' participation in fundraising, as well as their competition in a mini-marathon, 5K race and one-mile walk. The winning houses will earn a party hosted by Cheeseburger in Paradise next semester.\nThe groups hope to raise at least $50,000, said Dimitri Loupakos, vice president of the Greek Council.\nSo far organizers have targeted runners in Chicago, Evansville and the Bloomington high schools, said Clint Rice, assistant director for greek affairs.\n"At first, (organizing) was scary," said Carrye Troyer, director of sorority affairs. "We were worried we'd have trouble finding people to get involved with it."\nThe fraternities and sororities have responded "extremely well" so far, Loupakos said. \nGreeks are becoming involved by making donations and attending events such as the one Thursday night. The $2 cover at Cheeseburger went toward the scholarship. \nParticipants can also purchase T-shirts to show their support. Loupakos said they have already sold an unexpected 800 T-shirts. Because of the response to the shirts, Circle of Life was able to hold a raffle for a flat-screen TV at the event Thursday night. \nJunior Bryan Gordon said he came to the event "to throw my two bucks in and get the house some points."\nAside from racking up points for the competition, attendees supported the cause.\n"You can't really go wrong with it," Gordon said. \nMacCauley said everyone is touched by cancer, and Myles Grote, Circle of Life operations vice president, echoed those thoughts.\n"There are not too many scholarships like this," Grote said. "Two of my cousins had cancer, so it hit home for me"