Beat ’SC Week is more than just smashing red cars.
It’s also a week during which UCLA shows it can compete with the University of Southern California in areas other than football.
“If we don’t beat USC in football, we’ll beat them through our philanthropy,” said Cathy Nguyen, secretary of UCLA’s Mortar Board, a national women’s community service honor society.
UCLA’s weeklong celebration of its rivalry with USC includes various programs that encourage students to contribute quarters to charity, donate blood and learn about AIDS.
Members from both the UCLA and USC chapters of Mortar Board will be collecting quarters throughout Beat ’SCWeek for the Lupus Foundation, the nation’s largest non-profit volunteer organization that helps those with the autoimmune disease lupus.
“We were brainstorming about what we could do during Beat ’SC Week, and we thought this would be a very effective way to help out those in need,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen added that UCLA’s Mortar Board decided to collect quarters after hearing about a similar event at USC, and this has sparked some friendly competition between the two Mortar Board chapters.
Thirty-five members of UCLA’s Mortar Board will be walking around campus with signs on their backpacks asking students to contribute a quarter to the foundation in addition to making announcements about lupus in classrooms.
“The Mortar Board chapters at UCLA and USC are working together for school and spirit, as well as to serve the greater community,” said California Mortar Board Executive Director Diane Selby.
Lupus is most common in women aged 15 to 50. Typical symptoms are extreme fatigue, joint and muscle pain and rashes.
“One of the biggest problems of lupus is that everyone knows someone with lupus, but no one knows what it is,” said Stephanie Pringlefox, co-executive chairwoman of the Lupus Foundation branch in California.
Money donated to the Lupus Foundation goes to funding lupus research and education.
The members of Mortar Board are not alone in their philanthropic activities during Beat ’SC Week. The Student Alumni Association has planned a “Get Out the Red” blood drive for Wednesday.
“The blood drive brings students, alumni and staff together for a greater sense of belonging to UCLA and their experience here,” said Ita Nagy, director of campus spirit for SAA.
SAA is also promoting World AIDS Day, offering free and confidential HIV testing and information tables on Wednesday in conjunction with the AIDS Institute and UCLA Dance Marathon.
“Beat ’SC Week and World AIDS Day are when students come together to fight something,” said Lindsay Mullins, director of community outreach for Dance Marathon. “We have AIDS testing on campus so people can take action in their own lives and stay safe.”
Students voiced their support for the philanthropy during Beat ’SC Week.
“Mortar Board and its members have a worthy cause, and I would donate a quarter, maybe even more,” said Charles Johnson, a fourth-year political science student.