Back on August 23, 2014, a challenge went forth from the Delta Zeta Alumni Association in the form of the 2014 DZAA Dues Challenge! Two teams were formed and the battle lines were drawn – Team Scarlet (consisting of DZAA President David Ebner and DZAA Treasurer Ryan Suarez) vs. Team Blue (Alumnus Chip Woodward and Alumnus Brian Harff).

The challenge: which team could get the most Alumni to pay their dues for the 2014/15 fiscal year!

The prize: if Team Blue won, then Team Scarlet will join them for a grueling day at Crossfit! If Team Scarlet wins, then Team Blue will donate much needed time assisting with the DZAA archiving project.

Running from August 23^rd through September 15^th, a goal was set to achieve 50 dues-paying Brothers within the DZAA. With their goal set, the two teams went out, challenging their fellow Brothers to pay their dues and help their team win!

The contest started off slow, with Team Scarlet heading out of the gates with a 4 to 3 lead over Team Blue. That quickly changed by August 24^th, when Team Blue took over the lead with 5 to 4.   By August 25^th, Team Blue still held on to their slight lead, with the numbers now 7 to 6. The teams began to battle it out, and by August 26^th, they were tied at 10 each. Of course, no tie can last forever. On August 27^th, Team Blue jumped ahead by five, with the numbers changing becoming 16 to 11. By August 30^th, Team Blue had increased their lead to 19 to 11. And the month of August ended with Team Blue remaining in the lead over Team Scarlett, 21 to 12.

Team Scarlet made a push as the DZAA entered the month of September, closing the lead to 21 to 13 on September 1^st. Both teams gained more dues-paying Brothers on September 3^rd, increasing the numbers to 24 to 14 (Team Blue holding on to their lead). The challenge slowed, however, and by September 15^th, the numbers of each team had only increased by one, 25 to 15.

It was the final day of the challenge. While the teams had achieved 40 of their 50 dues-paying members, Team Scarlet was getting desperate. They were 10 Brothers behind and looking at some very grueling, intensive, physically-challenging CrossFit if they didn’t get some Brothers to answer the call! Last minute pleas went out, and at 11:59 p.m. on September 15^th, the DZAA Dues Challenge officially came to an end. The final score?

Team Blue – 26 Brothers

Team Scarlet – 18 Brothers

So, while Team Blue walked away the winners (and poor Team Scarlet – there are a lot of Alumni looking forward to seeing Brothers Ebner and Suarez putting their physical prowess to the test at a CrossFit session!), the Delta Zeta Alumni Association was the true winner! With 48 current dues-payment members (44 from the challenge and 4 who paid prior to the challenge), this year sees the biggest number of current, active Alumni in quite a while. And to top it all off, Alumnus Alex Bosco made an additional donation of $500 to the DZAA’s operations fund! The funds raised by the payment of dues (and donations!) go to fund the activities of the DZAA throughout the year, providing the Alumni with opportunities to meet, socialize, and stay current with their fellow Alumni.

And for those who did pay their dues – the Members Only section of the DZAA website, which will be available only to Alumni who are current with their dues, will be launched soon, and the first piece of content for the Members Only section will be a video of Brothers Ebner and Suarez doing CrossFit!

The DZAA wishes to thank each of the two teams for their dedication and effort throughout the weeks of this Challenge, and to every Alumnus who participated. It was a great competition and when it comes to our Brotherhood in the DZAA – there are no losers!