Correction appended.
“Do you guys like breasts?” LSP sophomore Madeleine DiLeonardo asked a group of college-aged guys walking through the center of Washington Square Park. She had their attention.
“Do you want to hula-hoop?” she asked. The guys chuckled and sheepishly declined.
“You sure?” DiLeonardo asked. “You look like you’d be super good!”
So what do Hula-hoops and breasts have in common?
On Sunday afternoon, Delta Phi Epsilon sorority members asked passersby to hula-hoop alongside the sisters or donate money as part of Hula for Hope, a breast cancer fundraiser.
“When good-looking girls ask you to hula-hoop for something, you can’t say no,” CAS freshman Alex Yousefzadeh said. “And it was pretty fun.”
Emily Long is Delta Phi Epsilon president and was one of 40 sorority sisters who participated throughout the day. She said several sorority sisters have had family or friends diagnosed with cancer, including her grandmother, a breast cancer survivor.
“Breast cancer is a very big issue in society,” said Long, a nursing senior. “It’s really important for all of us.”
While the majority of people chose to contribute money, some also tried their luck with a Hula-hoop. One eight-year-old started upstaging the sorority girls before giving them tips on how they could do better.
Although most of those hula-hoopers were children and parents, NYU students also competed with their friends, laughing at one another’s inability to keep the hoops from spiraling to the pavement.
The event raised $630 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. The sorority will join members from the St. John University’s chapter on Sept. 14 in Central Park to run in the Komen New York City Race for the Cure five-kilometer run.
“People keep coming up to us and thanking us, telling us their stories,” said DiLeonardo, the sorority’s vice president for programming. “Some people have even said they plan on getting more involved. It makes you feel good about being goofy in the park.”
Marc Beja is deputy campus editor. E-mail him at mbeja@nyunews.com.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misidentified the president of Delta Phi Epsilon. She is Emily Long, not Sarah Long. WSN regrets the error.
