Fraternity attempts to break world record


USC’s Zeta Phi Rho fraternity attempted to beat the world record for the most sandwiches made in one minute for its 14th annual Zeta Phi ‘Skid’ Rho event Thursday in McCarthy Quad.

The goal of the event is to make sandwiches that are then donated to the homeless living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row. Eric Liang, philanthropy chair at Zeta Phi Rho, supports his brothers’ development of leadership and teamwork through serving the community with events like “Skid” Rho.

“The idea [for “Skid” Rho] came from brothers wanting to solve the homeless problem in Los Angeles by feeding them and spreading awareness of various ongoing issues,” Liang said.

Zeta Phi Rho previously broke the world record for making the most sandwiches in one hour at the 12th Annual Zeta Phi “Skid” Rho at USC by making 17,341 sandwiches in 2014.

Immediately after the event, the sandwiches were delivered to Union Rescue Mission on Skid Row. Liang estimated that they made around 400 sandwiches per minute, short of the 700-per-minute sandwich goal.

“We didn’t beat the record unfortunately.” Liang said.

Several participants donning plastic gloves gathered at McCarthy Quad to assemble sandwiches and partake in attempting to beat the world record. A handful of students from other schools, including members from Zeta Phi Rho’s UCLA chapter, also attended to help attempt to set the world record at USC.

Thursday’s event began with several sandwich-making games that prepped participants for breaking the record. Brothers from Zeta Phi Rho informed participants about the event’s purpose and the target sandwich number they needed to beat.

During the event, participants split up into tables and teams to start the sandwich-making process. The participants constantly bumped arms with each other in an effort to accelerate their sandwich production.

Most groups split up the work putting peanut butter and jelly on the sandwich and opening the jars and packages in a bid to fill any vacant space. Other teams had more efficient ways at getting the job done.

In addition, retailers such as  7-Eleven, ONO Hawaiian BBQ, Coca Cola and Frito-Lay sponsored the event, supplying the event with snacks, gift cards and prizes to ensure that the participants were full of energy and motivation to participate and assemble sandwiches.

After the event, Zeta Phi Rho encouraged participants to sign a petition to improve mental health facilities in downtown Los Angeles. With the signatures from the petition, Zeta Phi Rho plans on drafting a deliverable that will be addressed to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti to request for more of the city’s budget to be allocated to mental health facilities.

“We want Trojans to read more about the link between mental health and homelessness and to reach out to the L.A. governor to express their voice,” Liang said.