Murray State’s first Campus Plunge took place at the Alpha Gamma Rho house Nov. 6.

Students and faculty showed up to get dunked in ice–cold water for a good cause.

Alpha Sigma Alpha and AGR hosted the event to raise money for Special Olympics Kentucky.

Registration began at 7 p.m., and the opening ceremony started at 8 p.m. Best Buddies, an organization that helps Murray residents with disabilities get involved and meet people, was involved in the opening ceremony.

Best Buddies has some Special Olympics athletes that were able to attend the plunge and present awards.

The top fundraising Greek group on campus was ASA, but there were other individual winners. 

 One of the many unique things about this plunge was the costume contest. Teams and individuals dressed to impress with costumes such as “sharknado” and the “icy articulators.”

The plunge was glow-themed; with a giant inflatable palm tree slide that plungers slid down into the icy water.

The plunge brought out 90 participants and volunteers.

Kelley Kennedy, ASA senior from Louisville, Ky., has worked with Special Olympics Kentucky and said they were pleased with the outcome of the event.

“We are going to try to make it an annual event,” Kennedy said. “We are really excited about it; Special Olympics was enthusiastic about it. They were really happy with how the first year went. This was a really good first plunge to get under our belt to see the things we need to tweak and change, but I think it will be a fun annual event when we get it going.”

“We did a lot of plunges around the state,” Kennedy said. “I mainly worked with West Kentucky Plunge and the Owensboro, Ky., and Louisville area.” 

The Campus Plunge has raised more than $7,000 and the number is still growing.

People are still donating to the plunge for Special Olympics Kentucky.

ASA and AGR are working on ideas for the
next plunge.

“We’re thinking about making the plunge on a Saturday morning instead, so people won’t have to worry about classes,” said Kennedy. “We do need to stick to the time frame of late October or early November, because there are other plunges in the area that we don’t want to compete with. But it still has to be cold enough outside to make sure ‘you’re freezin’ for a reason’.”

 ASA is a regular contributor at the West Kentucky Polar Plunge at Kentucky Lake in  February and plans to show up to support Special Olympics Kentucky once again next year.

Story by Taylor Inman, Staff writer