Pitt fraternity takes a chilly swim for charity

As temperatures dipped into the 40s, some Pitt students broke out their bathing suits for an… As temperatures dipped into the 40s, some Pitt students broke out their bathing suits for an outdoor dip in Schenley Quad.

Nine Zeta Beta Tau members stood around a 3-foot deep inflatable pool from 4 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, shivering and wrapped in towels at the fraternity’s first Polar Bear Plunge.

The participants’ numbing swims brought in a total of $205 in donations for the Children’s Miracle Network, an organization that raises funds and awareness for 170 children’s hospitals across the country.

The unique charity event became a game for onlookers. For every $2 donated, the contributor could grab a ball and throw it at a poster featuring the nine participants’ cut-out images. Whichever paper head got hit, that swimmer had to take the plunge.

“I’m freezing,” sophomore Daniel Ginsburg said as he attempted to dry himself with a hairdryer. “They told me that if they raised $200, I would have to jump in.”

Ginsburg originally DJ’d the event, but by the end of the hour he had made it into the pool three times, clad in only his underwear.

“We had to shame some people into jumping in,” said sophomore Jake Convissar, Zeta Beta Tau’s philanthropy chair. “But we want to make this a yearly thing. We’re trying to plan fun charity events.”