Kean Greeks gather to support Anthony Lamotta

By Shannon Sheehan | Published by May 13, 2019

At the start of the semester, Kean University Senior Anthony Lamotta has been diagnosed with stage four metastatic melanoma. This was announced to the community at this semester’s Meet the Greeks, the largest recruitment event for greeks at Kean, as Lamotta is a brother of the fraternity Sigma Beta Tau.

Since the announcement of his cancer, the other Greek organizations began to come together to plan events to support Lamotta and those also suffering from melanoma.

They wanted to think of a way to honor Lamotta’s dedication to the greek community, as he was very involved and even held the position of secretary in his fraternity until his diagnosis due to not being able to dedicate enough time because of his treatments.

Fraternity Lambda Delta Chi reached out to several different Greek organizations, as well as Love Your Melon, which is an organization that is dedicated to helping children with cancer, to collaborate on an event called “Lamotta’s Dinner” which transpired this past April on the 17th.

It transpired in the Miron Student Center Room 315 from 8:30-10 p.m. where greeks and non-greeks alike gathered to honor Lamotta.

A committee was formed to plan the event including members from Nu Theta Chi, Omega Sigma Psi, Theta Phi Alpha and Love Your Melon who were recognized for their efforts at the start of the event.

Following the recognition, speeches from various students were presented to the crowd addressing Lamotta and his strength through these trying times.

First up was Tori Volpe, the President of Love Your Melon, who gave facts about the type of cancer that Lamotta has.

She informed the crowd that over 200,000 U.S. cases of melanoma are diagnosed each year, showing the crowd just how much this disease impacts people all over the nation. She then gifted Lamotta with a shirt with ΣΒΤ stitched on the front for his organization in the colors that represent skin cancer, silver, and black.

Athena Xipolias, Lamotta’s girlfriend, then took the podium, first thanking everyone for their endless support. She spoke on how kind and loving Lamotta is to everyone around him, and how the support from the Kean community has positively impacted him and his family during this time.

The brothers of Sigma Beta Tau then addressed the crowd and Lamotta.

They became emotional as they recounted all of the good memories they have made together since joining the same fraternity and becoming involved at Kean. They spoke on the meaning of brotherhood and how they have been supporting Lamotta and will continue to support him until he wins this battle.

The event concluded with the announcement of how much was raised that night, which was $198, not counting the donations sent via Venmo or Cash App.

Roshorn Shivers, President of Lambda Delta Chi concluded the night by saying, “Looking out and seeing the different organizations that are out here tonight really shows that when a Greek is going through something, such as Lamotta, Kean Greeks come out and we show up.”

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