It’s time to use college athletics related spite to help out some refugees.
Hi!
The 2025 EDSBS Charity Bowl is officially underway!
Are you unfamiliar with the EDSBS Charity Bowl? It is the yearly fundraiser organized by the fine folks over at Channel 6 and the Shutdown Fullcast. It supports New American Pathways, an organization which describes their mission as follows:
New American Pathways is an Atlanta based nonprofit with the mission of Helping Refugees and Georgia Thrive. Our vision is for new Americans in metro Atlanta to become successful, contributing, and welcomed members of Georgia’s communities. We fulfill our goals by offering the most comprehensive, fully integrated continuum of services targeted to meet the specific needs of refugees and other immigrants in Georgia.
Our services support new Americans on their individual pathways from arrival through citizenship with programs that focus on four key milestones along the pathway – Safety & Stability, Self-Sufficiency, Success, and Service. Programs work in concert to guide new Americans on their individual pathways to long-term success.
Somehow, the EDSBS Charity Bowl is the single largest fundraiser for New American Pathways, both yearly and in history. Last year, the Charity Bowl brought in over $1.1 million, completely blowing all expectations out of the water. Shouts to The Michigan Money Cannon, as Wolverines supporters accounted for more than $269,000 of that all on their own, more than quadrupling up Texas A&M in the #2 spot. Lord knows what they’re going to do now that they won a second straight* national championship in football. 2021’s success — another $800K+ event — led to the creation of the EDSBS Empowerment Fund:
We are so excited to announce the new EDSBS Empowerment Fund. Thank you @edsbs @HollyAnderson and all of the amazing donors who gave during the Charity Bowl. YOU made this possible, and we are so grateful. #CharitibundiBowl #edsbs pic.twitter.com/a66AHzfpH5
— NewAmericanPathways (@newampaths) June 21, 2021
The Charity Bowl has a very specific format, though. It’s not just a fundraiser, it’s a methodology to show exactly how great your school/football team is as opposed to other schools/football teams. The goal is to help refugees. The fun part is donating, as Spencer Hall put it in 2021, “in the form of a score of a game where your team/school destroyed the hopes and dreams of a rival.” Past that, the goal is to raise more money for New American Pathways than your rivals as well. Spite is fun, but so is beating them on the field AND in the form of charitable donations.
Now, ostensibly, this is college football related because EDSBS was a college football website. However, you may have noticed that Marquette does not have a football team at the moment. This should not stop you from donating in the name of Marquette. Last year, Marquette finished #66 in the standings at $3,606 donated, which I believe is an all-time best performance in the Charity Bowl for MU.
Notable schools that beat Marquette last year:
- #11 Notre Dame, $18,560
- #14 Syracuse, $14,219
- #17 Wisconsin, $12,097
- #22 Rutgers, $10,233
- #37 Purdue, $6,286
- #54 Pitt, $4,724
- #57 Georgetown, $4,449
- #65 Maryland, $3,621
Sadly this means that MU did not win the Big East division of the Charity Bowl a year ago, falling about $800 short. I think we can shoot for a new all-time best in total donations, let’s see if we can do better than the rest of Marquette’s conference, too.
Notable schools that Marquette beat in 2024:
- #72 USF, $2,495
- #73 UConn, $2,465
- #78 Princeton, $2,125
- #96 Tulane, $1,324
- #101 Harvard, $1,199
- #105 Butler, $1,032
- #127 Louisville, $711
- #130 Villanova, $692
- #137 Cincinnati, $611
- #171 Saint Louis, $382
- #181 Gonzaga, $331
- #195 Denver, $279
- #197 Akron, $278
- #216 DePaul, $233
- #225 St. John’s, $198
- #232 Dayton, $168
- #261 Kenyon College, $110
- #291 Xavier, $80
- #295 Bradley, $76
- #298 Creighton, $72
- #318 New Mexico, $51
- #362 Providence, $24
The lone Big East school that did not even make the list of 399 outfits that registered a donation last year:
Seton Hall.
Get it together, Pirates.
Am I saying that any of these schools that did not beat Marquette or even donate at all are better and/or worse than Marquette? No! I am saying that it definitely appears that they are 1) not as nice as Marquette when it comes to works of charity or 2) obviously much poorer than Marquette since they don’t want to give money to a very respectable charity.
If the idea is to donate to New American Pathways in a fashion to celebrate that time that your team was successful against your rival, or that time your team was successful in an important game, may I suggest the following donation amounts?
- $88.74 for Marquette’s home win over Wisconsin this past season
- $74.72 for Marquette upsetting #1 Villanova on January 24, 2017, men’s basketball’s first ever regular season win over a #1 ranked team
- $73.59 for Marquette’s win over #1 Kansas in the 2023 Maui Invitational. the most recent win over the #1 ranked team
- $67.59 for Marquette’s 1977 national championship victory over North Carolina.
- $19.77 for MU’s national championship year.
- $19.60 to commemorate the start of Marquette’s undefeated streak in college football.
- $81.77 for Marquette’s NCAA tournament win over Colorado for MU’s most recent Sweet 16 appearance in men’s basketball.
- $15.12 for the fifth set score for Marquette volleyball against Utah last fall that advanced the Golden Eagles into the Sweet 16 for the third time in program history.
- $20.44 for Kam Jones’ career point total, the new second best scoring total in program history
- $20.23 for the first NCAA tournament appearance in Marquette women’s lacrosse history
- $18.81 for the year that Marquette University was founded.
Or whatever floats your boat. You can get as weird with it as you want.
Here’s what you need to do to donate:
Step 1: Go to EDSBSCharityBowl.com and click Donate
Step 2: Fill out the form, including selecting Marquette in the drop down menu.
Step 3: Be sure to include the dedication if you picked a specific donation amount for a reason.
Step 4: Keep the “Cover Payment Processing Fee” box checked. You’re donating to charity, don’t make them pay the credit card fees.
Step 5: Tell your friends to donate in Marquette’s name as well….. and then tell your enemies from other schools to donate to New American Pathways, too.
You can also text charitybowl25 to 91999 to make your donation that way if you feel so inclined.
Wondering exactly why the Charity Bowl is a thing? Spencer & Holly have an explanation for you over on Channel 6. Got a question? Check out their FAQ before firing away in the comments! Want a PDF version of the FAQ to share? They’ve got you covered.
Okay, let’s get out there and beat that ranking and total from last year!