[TSteven]

Note: I previously posted on another thread. I've made slight edits for this particular thread to keep pertinent to the topic.

Not all Sigma Chi chapters have Derby Days and for various reasons. A chapter may be "too small" to put on the events. Or if a chapter is on social probation, either by the school or by HQ, they might not be able to host Derby Days.

However, most chapters do try to have some sort of Derby Days.

Derby Days vary campus to campus. Some Derby Days may be for sorority pledges (new members) and usually held during the autumn semester. Other Derby Days may be for the full sorority and as such, could be held in either the autumn or spring. Usually depends on other Greek activities on that campus.

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From the Sigma Chi 2001 Derby Day Manual

MISSION

The mission of Derby Days is easily stated: to serve the community. Since the birth of our Fraternity, Sigma Chis have endeavored to give back to our world. Because Derby Days affords each chapter the unique opportunity to positively impact the community, it has been the most publicized and visible way for chapters to serve others. Thus, it is imperative that the actions of each brother reflect our true goal. Let the mission of Derby Days — serving the community — provide the foundation for each event and govern your every action before, during, and following Derby Days.

HISTORY

The tradition of Sigma Chi’s Derby Days began in the spring of 1933 at the Alpha Beta chapter at the University of California-Berkeley, under the name “Channingway Derby.” Located on Channing Way, the Alpha Beta Sigma Chis sponsored an event composed of a series of humorous skits. In fact, one publication later cited the Channingway Derby as “California’s most amusing tradition.”

In the spring of 1935, after receiving reports of the Channingway Derby, Beta Sigma chapter at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville made plans for a similar event. But instead of presenting skits, the event was planned around an all-day track and field competition between the pledge classes of the nine sororities at Tennessee. More than 1,000 people were in attendance on the big day, November 1, 1935, to witness the first Derby involving campus sororities.

Coincidentally, on that day four Sigs from Delta chapter at the University of Georgia were visiting Knoxville and witnessed the festivities. The brothers took the idea back to their campus and named their production “Sigma Chi Derby,” which seems to have stuck.

During the 1960s, Derby began to take on the philanthropic approach for which it is now known on many campuses. After the Cleo Wallace Center became Sigma Chi’s Fraternity-wide service project in 1967, many chapters began using Derby as a fundraising event for the Center. Although some amount of charitable work had been done through Derby and similar events prior to that time, the Wallace Center project gave a much-needed boost to the concept of doing something for a needy group outside of campus.

At the 1992 Leadership Training Workshop, the Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) was introduced as Sigma Chi’s suggested beneficiary of proceeds from chapter community service projects. The CMN, an alliance of 165 hospitals and health care facilities across the United States and Canada, generates funds for the children its associated hospitals serve. Seventy percent of the Fraternity’s active chapters and many alumni chapters are located in the same city or within an hour’s drive of one or more Network hospitals.

TODAY

Today, Sigma Chi Derby events are held to assist a number of charitable causes, some allocating a percentage of the proceeds to a local philanthropy and part to the Children’s Miracle Network. Since Sigma Chi began raising money for charitable causes, the Fraternity has raised well over $2 million for these groups. During the 1999-2000 year, Sigma Chi chapters donated over $600,000 to CMN hospitals.