President William R. Brody, professor Steven Zucker and Pre-professional Advisor Mary Savage gave humorous performances Wednesday, Nov. 13, as an incentive to help raise money for the United Way of Central Maryland Campaign in the Arellano Theater in Levering Hall.
The event was planned by Alpha Phi Omega (APO), the co-ed service fraternity on campus, and marked the culmination of a week-long competition between the four classes. Jugs for freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors were placed around campus to allow students to donate to their respective class funds, and each class was assigned a faculty sponsor. The reward offered for the winning class was a "performance" by their faculty member.
The freshman class raised the most money for the campaign, with a total of $70. In second place came the sophomore class, followed by the junior class. Service Vice-President of APO Wen Shi believes APO and CRVS were able to raise a total of about $200.
D'Agostino began the performance by asking audience members to contribute money, with the intention of tying the classes so that every administrator could present their skit. D'Agostino said that he "wanted a way to make it a little more exciting, and to get the audience involved." According to D'Agostino, all the prospective performers "wanted to do something."
Brody, the freshman class sponsor, was "really into the spirit," according to D'Agostino. After a short introduction, in which Brody described the history and good deeds of Art Garfunkel and his roommate, Sandy, at Columbia University, he began to play his guitar and sing a song once titled, Charlie on the MTA, and now rewritten according to the characteristics of a typical Hopkins student.
The song was about Charlie, a young pre-med at Hopkins, and his disappearance after having gone to Terrace one day for a meal.
Zucker, sponsor for the sophomore class, approached the stage with a large black bag while wearing a kimono, white cap and black-and-white sneakers. His entire presentation was centered around his experiences in Japan. For added emphasis, he displayed numerous items from his travels.
Finally, as a conclusion to his presentation, he brought out a Japanese beer and toasted with Brody, Savage and D'Agostino, as he told the story of the time he drank 3.5 liters of beer in Japan.
Savage, the junior class sponsor, introduced her skit by stating, "If you have no talent, you have props." She then proceeded to perform a short rendition of "Singin' in the Rain" in her raincoat while parading on the stage, twirling her umbrella.
Dean of Student Life Susan Boswell, sponsor for the senior class, was unable to attend the event.
The United Way of Central Maryland Campaign is an organization that provides health and human services for the people of the central-Maryland district who need help. According to the United Way of Central Maryland Web site, the organization feeds money to over 250 programs that help improve the lives of impoverished people, families and children.
The Office of Community Relations and Volunteer Services (CRVS) collaborated with Alpha Phi Omega in the fund-raising process on behalf of JHU, with the goal of including more students in the fund-raising process.
The campaign began on Sept. 20 and will end on Nov. 15, but donations will be accepted until Dec. 31. The overall JHU goal is to raise $2,334,500. As of Nov. 8, the University has reached 82% of their goal at $1,914,335.80. Last year, they were able to raise $2,267,011.
This year's campaign heads are Ilene Busch-Vishniac, dean of the Whiting School of Engineering, Ned Aull, supervisor of the Human Resources Department's services group at the Applied Physics Laboratory, and Roger A. Johns, chairman of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Almost all University divisions are contributors to the campaign. The Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, however, donates their money to the campaign centered in Washington, D.C.
According to Matthew D'Agostino, assistant director of CRVS, Hopkins has contributed to the campaign for years.
"CRVS has always been involved with the United Way of Central Maryland Campaign through its student volunteer groups and our staff," said D'Agostino. "The campaign is now more official with APO involved."
D'Agostino, along with a few APO members, organized the events on campus, designed to get students involved. Jugs were placed in the Breezeway, Terrace, Wolman, Q-level, the Bookstore and Levering Market, according to Shi.
"We made most of our money from Levering...we got people who were there for other things," said D'Agostino. "We could do a lot better. We were spread out too thin."
From Nov. 4 to Nov. 8, the group set up a United Way CafZ, also in Levering Hall.
"We had fresh coffee and baked goods, as well as performance groups such as [the JHU] Belly dancers [and] violinists," said Shi.
The campaign is not over yet, but so far, D'Agostino believes the student involvement has been a success. Shi adds that he is "confident next year will be better."
According to D'Agostino, "APO will stay involved...and there will be more participation and student involvement." The biggest challenge, he said, was advertising for United Way and "competing against a lot of other charity work."
D'Agostino believes the key is to find a place "where people can come together and learn about things on campus.
