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Chi Phi fraternity and Alpha Gamma Delta sorority will host the inaugural Rick Thorpe '89 Memorial Tennis Tournament 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at the Sullivan Lane tennis courts. Participation is open to the community.
Thorpe is a Lafayette and Chi Phi alumnus who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attack against the World Trade Center. Proceeds from the tournament will go to his family's trust fund.
Event organizers Michael Levey '02, an economics and business major, and Marquis Scholar Jen Stroka '03, a biochemistry major, have collected donations from the Class of 1989 and Chi Phi and Alpha Gamma Delta alumni. Fourteen local businesses donated money for the fund and food for the all-day barbecue, as well as T-shirts and brochures that will display their names. The T-shirts will be worn by Chi Phi brothers and AGD sisters prior to the tournament, given to participants, and sold at the event. The brochures will be distributed to spectators.
The tournament will consist of male and female singles as well as mixed doubles, and participants will be welcome up until the start of the event. The cost is $15 for single entries and $25 for pairs. Participants and spectators are also encouraged to give flat donations to the Thorpe Family Benefit Trust.
Prizes in the form of gift certificates will be awarded to winners and have been donated by local businesses, including Lafayette Inn, Giant, Jac and Company, and several fitness clubs.
Levey is excited about the event because he and Stroka have already raised approximately $2,000 and gained the involvement of several skilled tennis players from local tennis clubs.
“I was more than happy to organize this event because I love tennis and I know it is going to such a good cause,” says Levey. “We are expecting a good turn out and hope the tennis tournament will be the start of an annual event that will be held to raise money for similar worthy causes in the future.”
An economics and business major, Thorpe learned to play lacrosse at Lafayette and became captain of the men's varsity team. He dedicated many hours to service projects in college, from helping found a soup kitchen to outreach for disadvantaged Haitians. He continued his philanthropic service after graduating through Big Brothers and other programs. He was vice president at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods in New York.
Levey has been named to the dean's list for the past five semesters and studied abroad in Mexico last summer. He is captain of the men's varsity tennis team, and is a member of Chi Phi fraternity and the Investment Club. Last year, he helped disadvantaged Easton residents prepare their income tax forms.
Stroka is a member of Lafayette's chapter of the American Chemical Society and philanthropy coordinator for Alpha Gamma Delta sorority. She has participated in judging and hanging Earth Day posters for a contest at Easton Area Middle School. She also spent the past January interim session between semesters studying abroad in New Zealand with a group of 22 Lafayette students.
For further information or to donate, contact Levey at (610) 559-5569.