NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – Zeta Beta Tau will kick off its second annual Z.B.T.’s Autism Awareness Week to benefit COSAC and its mission to aid Autism Spectrum Disorder patients. The opening ceremony begins at 1 p.m. on October 1, 2007 at the Rutgers Student Center on College Avenue in New Brunswick. 

Last year, Zeta Beta Tau raised over 1335 dollars for COSAC. This year Zeta Beta Tau is looking to break that amount. You can help by making an online donation at www.njcosac.kintera.org/zbt.

From Monday to Friday the week of October 1, brothers of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity and other participants will be rolling a giant ball featuring their logo as well as those of sponsors and COSAC across the Rutgers Campuses (College Avenue, Busch, Livingston and Cook/Douglass). Their intention is to collect donations to benefit COSAC. As donations are made, donators will be invited to sign the ball for a monetary donation of one dollar and join what is expected to be an increasingly large group to not only benefit COSAC’s fundraising efforts but increase awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder and COSAC’s operations in New Jersey.

The ball will be rolling on the College Avenue campus Monday after the kickoff at 1 p.m. and Friday as well. Tuesday the ball will be on Busch, Wednesday on Cook/Douglass and Livingston on Thursday.

For Zeta Beta Tau, “Z.B.T.’s Autism Awareness Week” carries a personal attachment.

“My little brother, Praveen, is autistic, and my family and I love him with all our hearts,” said Z.B.T. brother Pavan Katapelli, a junior mathematics major. “COSAC helps children and adults like my brother and their families all throughout New Jersey, and for that reason I had to help them. So for me it was a natural inclination to involve my fraternity into my efforts to help COSAC succeed.”

Naturally Pavan’s fraternity brothers got involved in his plan for the event, carrying the philanthropic event over for several years running.

COSAC is a non-profit agency providing information and advocacy, services, family and professional education and consultation. COSAC encourages responsible basic and applied research that would lead to a lessening of the effects and potential prevention of autism. COSAC is dedicated to ensuring that all people with autism receive appropriate, effective services to maximize their growth potential and to enhancing the overall awareness of autism in the general public. For more information visit http://www.njcosac.org/

Zeta Beta Tau Fraternity was inspired by Richard J. H. Gottheil, a professor of languages at Columbia University and a leader in the early American Zionist movement. Today, the merged Zeta Beta Tau Brotherhood is some 110,000 Brothers strong, and Z.B.T. Chapters and Colonies are established at over 80 campus locations. Through good times and bad, Z.B.T. has been in the forefront in pioneering new concepts - as evidenced by its very founding, its elimination of sectarian membership practices, its acceptance of mergers, its elimination of pledging, and its ability to solve enormous problems when others abandoned the effort.

Z.B.T. continues to maintain a tradition of leadership and respect in the inter-fraternity world.