"The best education in the world is useless if a student doesn't survive with a healthy mind and body" - Connie and Howard Clery
Thank you for your interest in Phi Sigma Kappa's Blue Light Ball for the Clery Center!
In 1986, Jeanne Clery was a first year Lehigh student when she was raped and murdered in her Lower Cents dorm room. At the time, campus safety standards were virtually non-existent. But, to help prevent future tragedies like the one they had to endure, Jeanne's parents formed the Clery Center and brought about the passage of the Clery Act. One result of this national movement for campus safety and crime reporting was the blue emergency call posts that you see all over college campuses today, which our event is named after.
Jeanne was very close to the brothers of Phi Sig, and she was "sweethearted" to our chapter in 2018 with the inaugural Blue Light Ball. Since then, it has been a Phi Sig tradition to honor her and her family's legacy of spreading awareness about campus violence and what we can do to prevent it.
This will be an educational fundraising gala meant primarily to illuminate campus sexual violence and raise funds for the Clery Center. There will be prizes like Hotel Bethlehem brunch tickets, artwork, gift baskets, and more for those who enter into our drawing. Finger food and desserts will be served!
Dr. John Smeaton, Lehigh's Dean of Students during the Jeanne Clery incident, will speak along with Jessica Mertz, Executive Director of the Clery Center. There will be informational tables held by Lehigh's GVES office and the Crime Victims Council of the Lehigh Valley. While attendees will hopefully include students from all walks of life, we hope that the men especially leave the Blue Light Ball having learned something new about the Clery Center, how important it is for our university's history, and how they can prevent sexual and other forms of violence on campus and beyond.
The Blue Light Ball will be in the Lamberton Hall great room on April 28th, 2023 from 8 pm 10 pm. Entry will be $10 at the door, and donations will be suggested for those want to enter the prize drawing. We hope to see you there in semi-formal attire!
Phi Sig is also running an online fundraising campaign leading up to the event throughout the month of April. If you or anyone you know is passionate about what the Clery Center does, please share
our fundraising link with them! Donations as small as $5 make a big difference.
