Nearly 275 Andover students and faculty showed up at the Faculty Dodgeball Tournament last Friday to witness teachers being bombarded with rubber balls. Ticket sales from the tournament generated over $800 to be donated to separate charities. Six faculty teams faced off in the tournament, each with a separate charity beneficiary. The winning team received two-thirds of the proceeds raised that evening, and the rest of the money was divided according to student input. Winning team captain Andrew Housiaux, Instructor in Philosophy and Religious Studies, and his teammates donated the money to Oxfam International. “I think the work that they do is very important in addressing poverty and hunger around the world,” said Housiaux. Alana Rush, Assistant Director of Community Service and organizer of the tournament, said that she was inspired to create the event while reminiscing with teaching fellows about their shared love of dodgeball. Rush said, “We thought it would be a really great opportunity to raise money for worthwhile causes by making a charity tournament.” Team captains chose the charities to which they wanted to donate the money, which included Broadway Cares, the Galveston Relief Fund, the International Red Cross, the Lawrence Youth Development Organization, Oxfam International and Project Bread. Dale Hurley, Instructor in Math and captain of the Galveston Relief Fund team, had personal reasons for selecting his charity. Hurley grew up in Texas and has family living north of Galveston, Texas. He chose the Galveston Relief Fund to help raise money for the cost of meals from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). “A little bit of money goes a long way,” said Hurley. Faculty enjoyed the competitive aspect of the tournament in addition to the charitable aspect. Brian Faulk, Instructor in Chemistry, played on the Oxfam team. “I thought it would be a lot of fun to compete with other faculty. I had a blast,” Faulk said. Spectator Catherine Anderson ’12 said, “I thought it was hilarious, really fun and exciting to watch our teachers play dodgeball.” Claire Harmange ’11 said, “It was kind of confusing because there were always two games going on simultaneously. You couldn’t really tell who won because it was so disorganized.” Organization issues can be solved over time, since many faculty members expressed interest making the dodgeball tournament an annual event, according to Rush. Faculty expressed interest in creating more events faculty events like the dodgeball tournament. Faulk proposed the creation of a student-faculty wiffleball game. “I hope to see more events like this, that push students and faculty outside of the… relationships that typically define our interactions,” said Rush.
