New UC Merced fraternity celebrates Pi Day

In the third month, on the 14th day, students at UC Merced celebrated the mighty number pi, which begins 3.14, with members of a newly chartered fraternity whose name includes the mathematical symbol, putting themselves at risk of receiving whipped cream pies in their faces.

Pi Day was an apropos day for Delta Sigma Pi to hold its first fundraising event. For $1, UC Merced students or staff could toss a whipped cream treat at fraternity members or economic professor Justin Hicks.

“It’s definitely a new experience for me,” Hicks said, laughing as he wiped whipped cream from his face. He got hit with at least three pies.

Pi Day is celebrated on March 14 around the world, according to PiDay.org. Pi, which is the 16th character in the Greek alphabet, is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant – the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter – which is approximately 3.14159.

Many schools use Pi Day as a way to bring some fun into the classroom while teaching about the concept. The number is particularly useful for calculating problems involving circles in geometry. The number is used to determine the area of a circle, the volume of a cylinder or the surface area of a sphere.

UC Merced students majoring in management business economics lined up one after the other to slam the pies into the faces of Delta Sigma Pi members. Some students smeared the pies in the faces of their victims while recording the spectacle on their cellphones, and others used one pie as a weapon for two faces.

The fraternity also sold Krispy Kreme doughnuts along with the pies, which were made with 22 cans of whipped cream. The group raised nearly $200 in one hour.

The event was Delta Sigma Pi’s first on campus after the fraternity was chartered by the national group and 27 members were initiated on Saturday.

The international professional business fraternity aims to connect business students with the commercial world, said Andrew Lopez, UC Merced’s chapter president. The fraternity also focuses on community service and volunteerism.

“We want to make the individual person and the community better through ethical practices,” said Lopez, 22. “Pi does have relevance to us because our fraternity focuses on knowledge and education.”

Lopez racked up the highest number of pies to the face, letting students smother him in whipped cream more than 10 times.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "New UC Merced fraternity celebrates Pi Day."