The carnival included a variety of outdoor and indoor activities, including traditional carnival booths like an inflatable slide and obstacle course on the Green, as well as a Dance Dance Revolution contest and Wii Bowling video game competition, which took place in Fuel Lounge.
Battle, who teamed up with Alpha Phi sorority to organize the carnival, said he first conceived of the idea over a year ago and has worked since then to turn his vision into a reality. His older brother, who has Down Syndrome, served as his main inspiration to plan the fundraiser.
"It was a long organizational process," Battle said.
Battle explained that he sent proposals to various campus organizations to find an event sponsor. Alpha Phi agreed to work with him this past December.
Encouraged by the success of this year's carnival, Alpha Phi president Joanne Nurse '11 said that the sorority plans to make it an annual event.
"An idea brought up was to have Carnival for a Cause to raise money for a different charity every year," Nurse said. "Alpha Phi would love to team up again with [Battle] next year."
Carnival participants could purchase tickets for $1 using cash or funds from their DASH accounts, Battle said. All undergraduate students received three free carnival tickets that could be used for any event other than the raffle.
The dunking booth was one of the most popular activities at the carnival, and various campus leaders volunteered to "get dunked," according to Battle. Recently elected Student Body President Eric Tanner '11, outgoing Alpha Phi president Suzanne Spignesi '10, football coaches Don Dobes and Buddy Teevens '79 and women's basketball coach Chris Wielgus all participated in the carnival station.
"[The dunking booth] was busy all day," Battle said. The raffle event was also a main draw at the carnival, according to Battle. The prizes included a 20-inch flat-screen LCD computer monitor, a PlayStation 3 set, restaurant packages and various autographed memorabilia from professional athletes, including a signed jersey from Orlando Magic player Dwight Howard. Battle said that the majority of the prizes were donated.
The campus response to Saturday's carnival was very encouraging, he said.
"It was a great event," he said, adding that he was happy that his family and brother were able to attend.
Battle said that he plans to organize a similar event next year, keeping in mind "what works and what doesn't" based on his experience planning this year's carnival.
Nurse called the carnival "very successful" and said that Alpha Phi was enthusiastic about the opportunity to help raise money for a worthy cause.
"Alpha Phi jumped at the chance to help organize because we like to help out with charity events in any way we can," Nurse said.
Alpha Phi members were primarily involved in the event's logistics, according to Nurse. Ingrid Liu '10 helped co-organize the event with Battle, and the majority of the volunteers on Saturday's carnival were Alpha Phi members, Nurse said.
