Do charity by working it on the catwalk? For a select group of Hopkins students in the Glass Pavilion Tuesday night, that was exactly what happened.
On Dec. 4, the Hopkins student group Vision XChange held the Hopkins Top Model competition to "stop the poppy economy" in Afghanistan by raising money and awareness for the cause.
Vision XChange has been working to draw attention to international issues for the last three years. Salmah Rizvi and Shruti Mathur co-founded the organization, through the Center for Social Concern, hoping to enhance public knowledge about issues often overlooked by the media and other charities.
"We try not to do anything that's too politically heavy, but at same time we want to do something about awareness," Rizvi said.
To accomplish this goal, Rizvi and Mathur decided to combine learning and fundraising with fun. Each event benefits a different cause, and the events aim to be engaging and exciting.
"There's a lack of events that are fun and still promote a cause," Rizvi said.
With Hopkins Top Model and other programs like it, Vision XChange can teach about an important issue while also entertaining an audience.
"Everybody doesn't read the paper, everybody doesn't look at the news, so [this event] gets people there, and then while they're there, they learn," said freshman Vision XChange volunteer JR Smith.
Hopkins Top Model was the first event Vision XChange organized upon its founding, and Tuesday's competition marked the third annual Top Model show. Since that first year, though, it has been a great success on campus.
"We started our organization, and within three weeks we put on Hopkins's first Top Model, which sold out," Rizvi said, adding, "We've been putting in more and more effort ... to make each program better."
University President William Brody was in attendance as a judge for the contest. He told the News-Letter he was proud of Vision XChange for their humanitarian efforts and inspired ideas.
"It's a great opportunity for students to come together and think about the world, and have fun at the same time," he said.
This year's contest was organized to raise awareness about Afghanistan's problematic opium economy.
The nation produces 93 percent of the opium that is sold worldwide, making it extremely profitable to terrorist regimes that own a substantial amount of arable land in Afghanistan. Thus, the poppy economy provides great financial support for insurgent groups.
Because opium cultivation monopolizes the Afghani economy, many children and adults receive little or no education, and instead spend their lives working to farm and sell opium.
Vision XChange will donate all of the night's proceeds from the Top Model competition to Afghani Red Crescent, an organization that creates "marastoons," institutions that teach a variety of trades, for those tied to the opium business.
With a new skill, like embroidery or carpentry, these people can then support themselves and their families without relying on opium.
In addition to ticket sales, Vision XChange conceived another clever way to raise funds for Afghani Red Crescent.
Between competition rounds, shoeboxes, one for each contestant, were passed around, into which audience members put money for their favorites contestants. The competitors with the most money collected automatically advanced to the next round.
The competition itself consisted of three rounds: "Unique Style," "Red & White" and "Formal Wear." Competing were 28 male and female representatives of as many student groups, including people from sports, Greek life, cultural groups and student government. These brave students spent several weeks choosing outfits, rehearsing and even learning how to walk like a model.
All of the contestants were enthusiastic and performed with individual flair. In fact, the night was so entertaining that the charitable reason for it sometimes faded into the background. But the message about the crisis in Afghanistan was reinforced by reminders from Masters of Ceremony Louis Young and Michael Winnet, and through words from William Latimer from the School of Public Health and Afghani refugee Jaheda Hanif.
Co-founder Shruti Mathur, who graduated in 2006 and now lives in Manhattan, returned to Hopkins to serve on the panel of judges with President Brody and Benedict Dorsey, the senior associate director of the Office of Financial Services.
The members of Vision XChange also expressed their gratitude toward their supporters, public and private, that enabled the event to take place at no charge to the organization.
They singled out President Brody for his continued support of the Vision XChange mission. Brody accepted a plaque from the organization with a little model behavior of his own, shimmying down the runway and flinging his suit jacket into the crowd (and yes, there are photos and video out there).
At the end of the night, the votes of the judges were tallied and the shoebox collections were counted to choose the next two Hopkins Top Models. This year's female runway star is junior Materials Science & Engineering major Dani Velez, from Phi Mu. Freshman Pouya Hemmati, from the Iranian Cultural Society, was voted the best male model.
The event attracted a large crowd, making the third annual Hopkins Top Model competition yet another success for Vision XChange. For Salmah Rizvi, a senior, this year's event was particularly special, as it was her last time organizing the event. She hopes that her and Mathur's work will continue in future years.
To make that happen, Vision XChange veterans have been "training new members to take over this organization when we leave because this is exactly what Hopkins needs," Rizvi said.
"We have so many great resources, so many great people, but the only issue is bringing together a diverse group of people and having them do something that's good for the world."
