The following is a first-person narrative written by Tucker Kennedy (Alabama, Gamma Alpha ’18) describing the record breaking philanthropic contributions from Gamma Alpha Chapter in 2020-2021.

At the start of my sophomore year at the University of Alabama, I began to find a purpose and that purpose was contributing the The Andrew McDonough Be Positive Foundation at The University of Alabama. Freshman year at this school can be overwhelming due to rushing, participating in processes leading to initiation in a chapter, meeting thousands of new people and enjoying the social life this campus offers. That coupled with schoolwork, there is little time to branch out and do more around campus. During my sophomore, year, I found a team captain available position in the UA Be Positive Morale team. My role was to facilitate communication between my chapter and the foundation branch here at Alabama. I felt this was a way I could really involve my chapter in something to support our community. That year, the PIKE team went from raising $0 in philanthropy to $10,000! A huge improvement, but I knew our potential was more. To further my involvement, I contacted the club executive members to see what  executive board positions were available.

From there, I applied and got the position of Co-Morale Director in charge of communicating with the student body of the UA Be Positive club. I knew this was my chance to lead and help the Greek life campus involvement with the Be Positive Foundation reach its potential. Through making lots of connection with chapters over the course of a COVID-19 ridden year, we were still able to gain more members and raise more money here at The University of Alabama than ever before. We reached nearly 1,900 members and raised just over $160,000 surpassing the club’s previous records of nearly 1,700 members and $15,000 raised.

While acting as Co-Moral Director, I also served as the External Vice President for the Gamma Alpha chapter. I naturally needed my chapter to succeed in fundraising for Be Positive. Gamma Alpha did amazing raising $24,601! We not only broke the previous record of fundraising for an individual team, but we also beat every fundraising team this year. This was the first time in history that Kappa Alpha Theta and B+ Exec have been beaten!

I thank my team as without them none of this would be possible. The astonishing achievements and performance by both my chapter and my B+ morale team, I was recently elected as a Co-President for the Be Positive Foundation at The University of Alabama. I look forward to setting new goals and hopefully hitting new records in the following year!

-Tucker Kennedy