Annual cancer fundraiser to crown campus king

For the past several weeks, a man in Mario costume has stood outside Ballantine Hall and on Kirkwood, blasting the Super Mario theme song and dancing around with a can.

The man in the costume is Logan Good, a fifth-year senior in his final semester at IU and a brother in Phi Kappa Sigma. He’s raising money for Big Man on Campus.

“I’ve been out there from 9 to 5, dancing and collecting donations,” Good said.

Good said he joined BMOC to make his final semester special but also because of personal connections to the cause. At 7 p.m. Friday at the IU Auditorium, one man will be crowned with this title, and he’ll carry it with him for the rest of the year.

“It’s basically an all-male talent show with over 20 guys just from different campus organizations, I think mostly frats,” said Allison Schwartz, junior and co-philanthropy chair for Zeta Tau Alpha, the sorority that sponsors Big Man on Campus.

It’s philanthropy to raise money to help battle breast cancer. The sorority collects money throughout the year at different philanthropy events, such as GlowFest in the spring. That money goes into the total announced at the end of BMOC. The winner of the competition is also announced.

“The BMOC boys are judged on their talent and how much money they have raised for breast cancer research and awareness,” said Vanessa Cordova, senior and co-philanthropy chair as Zeta Tau Alpha, via email.

Most of the fraternities on campus have chosen to be involved with this event.
“Each frat picks one representative from their house that will perform the day of the show,” Schwartz said.

These performances typically consist of singing or dancing, but tonight, Good’s Mario Party performance will break from the norm. His interest in the cause comes from his family.

“I’m actually named after a family member who passed away from breast cancer,” he said.

He’s named for Lois, his grandmother on his father’s side, he said. His grandfather, Sheldon Good, is visiting Bloomington for the event.

Good’s mother was also affected by breast cancer. She was diagnosed  at age 15.

“My grandfather’s coming down from Chicago,” Good said. “My mother’s coming down from Chicago, so that’ll be really cool.”

As a third connection to the cause, a graduated brother from Good’s fraternity is in the later stages of cancer, and Good is bringing that with him as inspiration.

“I found out after the fact,” Good said. “But it’s still in the back of my mind.”

Cordova has also been affected by the cause.

“My aunt is an eight-year breast cancer survivor and has been my inspiration and motivation to work toward this cause,” Cordova said.

In order to raise money, participants are selling tickets for $13, T-shirts for $10 or both for $20.

This year, the ZTA girls hope to surpass $200,000.

“I’m super excited for the total to be read at the end,” Schwartz said. “I think this year, we got it down.”