Several Auburn fraternities hosted and participated in the inaugural “Romo Cup” wiffle baseball game on Saturday, April 25, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The cup honors the life and legacy of Will “Romo” Romanowski, a member of Auburn’s Sigma Nu fraternity who died in June of 2023 in a car accident. This year’s teams included Alpha Tau Omega (ATO), Sigma Nu, Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji), Kappa Alpha, Farmhouse, Lambda Chi Alpha, Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Phi Delta Theta.
What began as a simple wiffle ball game at Sigma Nu has quickly become an event that brings the whole community together. While Sigma Nu already had a scholarship within their fraternity honoring Romanowski, they decided to extend his legacy by focusing it on a game he loved. Romanowski, was a straight-A scholarship recipient himself and someone with whom you could immediately get along. He also had a love for baseball, more specifically, the Philadelphia Phillies. In fact, he dreamed of one day working in the front office for the Major Leagues.
One thing that stood out amongst those who loved him most after his death was a note found that read, “Be Better Than Yesterday.” While not as serious as Major League Baseball (MLB) games, his mantra will now be promoted on the wooden scoreboard of countless wiffle ball games, as Sigma Nu and other participating fraternities hope to compete in the Romo Cup annually.
Last August, several of the participating fraternities held an initial fundraiser and a lineup of wiffle ball games to serve as a test run for the newfound tradition; however, these spring games marked the official first year of the Romo Cup. Carter Busby, senior in finance and member of ATO, has been excited to help to launch this event and promote it via their website.
“[The idea] kind of started back in August when there were a few guys from Sigma Nu and ATO who just wanted to play a wiffleball game, which was kind of random, and then, a few of us got together afterward and were like, 'hey, let's try and turn this into something,'" Busby said. “At first, it was just going to be a fun thing for some fraternities to get together, but a few of the guys [who were friends with Romanowski] said it'd be cool if we found a way to honor him, since Will's [Romanowski] favorite thing was baseball.”
The official sponsors for the 2026 Romo Cup included the Auburn University Interfraternity Council, the Auburn University Panhellenic Council, Climate Control Equipment, Chptr, High Tide Strategy Group, Mathison Interiors and several other fraternities and sororities. Additionally, attached to the Romo Cup is a fundraiser where all proceeds are helping to start the Will “Romo" Scholarship. Busby said it is in the process of becoming an official Auburn University endowed scholarship which will be awarded to an Auburn student each year. Busby wants this event to be something more than baseball and to truly encourage members of the Auburn community to “Be Better Than Yesterday.”
“This is, honestly, an effort for some fraternity guys to try to do something good, [to] show that, you know, there's a lot more going on in fraternity than just all the crazy parties and whatnot,” Busby said.
Romanowski’s parents and several other family members who currently attend or have graduated from Auburn were present for the event on Saturday, with Romanowski’s father throwing the first pitch.
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