The Hispanic Scholarship Fund hosted the third annual “”Battle of the Bronze,”” a series of mental and physical challenges, Sunday afternoon at Mansfield Park, 2000 N. Fourth Ave.
The event aimed to raise money for the HSF, which works to increase the retention and graduation rates among Latinos in college.
“”The goal is to get more and more Hispanics in college and make sure they graduate,”” said Emilio Cardiel, a marketing senior and the student coordinator for HSF. “”It’s our biggest event of the year.””
The Olympic-style challenge included a limbo contest, tug-of-war, “”Jeopardy!””, balloon toss and an obstacle course, Cardiel said.
About 40 people came out to watch and participate in the “”Battle of the Bronze.”” The competitors composed five teams, each with four to five members.
The winning team, “”Men in Brown,”” was made up of four Lambda Theta Phi fraternity members.
“”We wanted to come out here with the intention of just having fun, but winning just made it that much better,”” said Miguel Acero, Jr., a sociology freshman and a member of “”Men in Brown.””
They won the event by finishing first in the final challenge, an obstacle course that consisted of a human wheelbarrow race, whipped cream-eating contest, football throwing challenge and a riddle.
“”Besides winning or losing, in the end, all of us came together just having a good time,”” Acero said.
The event also aimed to create a sense of unity between several multicultural fraternities and sororities, said Ernesto Ortega, an architecture junior and member of the winning team.
Iliana Vargas, a psychology senior, won the limbo contest and said she attended the event because she had enjoyed it in the past.
“”I thought it would be fun to meet more people and interact with different groups on campus,”” Vargas said.
Antonia Rodriguez, a psychology and Spanish senior, said her sorority sisters attended the competition to expose some of the younger members to different aspects of Greek life.
Rodriguez, a member of Chi Upsilon Sigma, said she was expecting to “”just to have fun on a Sunday afternoon.””
The event was mainly to get a mix of different clubs together and to raise awareness for the HSF, Cardiel said.
“”Forget about what club you’re in, just have fun and enjoy the day,”” Cardiel said.
Most of the teams were assembled by multi-cultural Greek organizations, but the Arizona Daily Wildcat also had a team that competed in Sunday’s events.
