Miami Student

Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Campus

Sigma Pi holds its first fund-raiser for the Jason Madachy Foundation April 12. The foundation is raising money for a scholarship and stethoscopes.

The Jason Madachy Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to give pre-medical and medical students assistance in their education, has raised enough money to put in place a full scholarship for fall 2008.

The foundation was set up in honor of Jason Madachy, who died in June 2007 after graduating from Miami University with a degree in zoology. He was an active member of both Miami's Sigma Pi fraternity and medical fraternity Phi Delta Epsilon, and had plans to attend Marshall Medical School in West Virginia.

The scholarship will be available for a junior or senior student who wants to go into medicine and places a higher value on philanthropy than on grade point average.

The Jason Madachy Foundation held its first major fund-raising event April 12 at the Partician Party Center in Cleveland.

According to Jason's mother, Dolly Madachy, more than 800 tickets were sold-bringing in more than $50,000. She had originally planned for 150-200 people to attend, but ultimately had to turn people away because there was no room remaining.

A long-term goal of the foundation is to provide every medical student in the U.S. with a stethoscope upon entering medical school, and the auction held two weekends ago furthered that goal.

"Raising that much money was pretty huge for our first year," said Jeff Madachy, Jason's younger brother and junior pre-medical student at Ohio University.

Senior Jamie Kyriakedes, president of Interfraternity Council (IFC) and member of both Sigma Pi and Phi Delta Epsilon, said it will only be a matter of time before the foundation's stethoscope goal is reached.

"As successful as (the fund-raiser) was, it's definitely inevitable that it happens," Kyriakedes said. "No matter how long it takes."

Joe Madachy, Jason's father, extended thanks to everyone who helped to make the event a success by showing up and helping out.

According to Miami junior and Phi Delta Epsilon member Katie Young, more than 100 people from Miami showed up, including 60 volunteers from Sigma Pi and several alumni who graduated with Jason last May.

Kyriakedes said the auction was important to Sigma Pi members in particular because after Jason's death they maintained a close relationship with Jason's parents.

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