This is the nation’s oldest and largest student-run carnival, and it’s undoubtedly one of the University’s most treasured traditions. It is a fun event that brings the University together with its alumni and the St. Louis community at large. It is also meant to be a philanthropic endeavor that benefits a St. Louis nonprofit long after the facades disappear. In recent years, however, the charitable emphasis of ThurtenE has taken a backseat to facade building.

In an effort to win the carnival’s coveted awards, some chapters will use their entire budget for elaborate facade construction and therefore donate hardly any money to charity. While marketing of ThurtenE has shifted its focus to reflect the event’s relative lack of charitable emphasis, this does not mean that philanthropy should be ignored completely – given the amount of money raised during this event, the potential to make lasting charitable contributions is quite high.

Our first recommendation is that the ThurtenE honorary should mandate that each fraternity-sorority partner make contributions to a charitable cause. Currently, the honorary only demands a baseline fee for chapters to reserve a space on the lot and finance storage. Chapters are encouraged to donate, but it is not a requirement for participation. On a weekend that draws thousands of attendees, it seems ridiculous that some chapters will not donate a single dollar to the cause. In order to meet this requirement, we urge chapters to stick to a pre-determined budget for their facades and to engage in more fundraising prior to the event.

Secondly, we encourage all participating student groups to explore alternative charitable organizations. Because ThurtenE honorary does not disclose the amount of money it donates to charity, there is frequent concern about the organization’s internal finances. Without public disclosure, it is impossible to know whether any significant portion of the event’s fundraising is actually given to the chosen nonprofit. There have also been doubts in recent years about the fiscal soundness of some of ThurtenE’s chosen charities.

Additionally, if chapters chose their own organizations, students participating in ThurtenE would be more intimately involved with their particular causes. Not only would this likely increase the chapters’ commitment to fundraising, but it could also increase students’ knowledgeable awareness of regional issues and volunteer work.

We have seen this strategy successfully put in place by the Beta Theta Pi-Chi Omega partnership. This year, the partnership’s only money for construction came from the chapters, and all fundraising money was donated to KIPP Inspire Academy, a charity selected by the chapters from three candidates. The change resulted in lower funds for building, but stricter budgeting and dramatically increased fundraising.

With increased efforts and alternative approaches to philanthropy, we may find that our memories of ThurtenE carnival will include more than frustration over cold weather and snapshots of facades.

Christina Kelley

Ben and Jerry’s on the Loop often partners with campus organizations for charity. This partnership has been called into question after Dance Marathon heard that they would not receive money for their October 12 fundraiser.

Jacob Lenard, the co-fundraising chair for Dance Marathon, had originally scheduled a benefit night at Ben & Jerry’s for Oct. 7, but Ben & Jerry’s moved the event to Oct. 12. After the benefit happened, Lenard said that he did not receive money for either night.

“We called the manager a couple times to get the money. He finally called us back three weeks later and basically told us that he wasn’t writing us a check,” Lenard said. “He told us that we didn’t publicize correctly and that we didn’t know how to do a benefit night.”

The event would have benefited the Children’s Miracle Network, the charity supported by Dance Marathon.

According to Lenard, Max Bierman, the owner of Ben & Jerry’s, told him that the event hadn’t been publicized sufficiently. Lenard also said that Bierman claimed that not enough people had mentioned Dance Marathon while purchasing ice cream.

Lenard said, however, that Ben & Jerry’s management told him that customers did not need to mention Dance Marathon in order for the money to be sent to charity.

Many other student groups have partnered with the franchise for philanthropic events in which the store donated a portion of ice cream sales from an agreed-upon night to charity.

According to Lenard, some of these groups,—such as Delta Gamma, Sigma Nu and Alpha Phi—have experienced similar problems with Ben & Jerry’s management when trying to organize fundraisers.

Following Lenard’s dispute with Ben & Jerry’s, Mike Hayes, executive director of campus life and director of Greek life sent a letter to Bierman expressing concerns about the incidents.

Hayes said that there appeared to be miscommunication on both sides.

“When I talked with Max, I got the impression that it didn’t go down the way it was supposed to,” Hayes said. “They are very philanthropically involved, and they still want to be.”

According to Bierman, the management involved with the fundraiser no longer works at Ben & Jerry’s.

“We want to partner with all facets of the University for a mutually beneficial experience,” Bierman said. “Since 2004, we have given back over $50,000 to charities, non-profit organizations and student groups and have had the opportunity to help raise money for families that are in need of funds related to medical care.”

In order to prevent future miscommunications, Bierman said that Ben & Jerry’s is working on a protocol for both Ben & Jerry’s and student organizations that he will send to Hayes to review.

“We are in the process of developing a ‘Benefit Night Guideline’ document for Washington University,” Bierman said. “I will be sending the document to Mr. Hayes. All groups wishing to host a fundraising event will be required to review the guidelines and discuss expectations and other information required.”

Hayes stressed the need for responsibility on both sides involved in fundraisers.

“There’s a responsibility on Ben & Jerry’s’ side and on the student organizations’ side,” Hayes said. “Students used to stand outside Ben & Jerry’s and tried to draw people in, but this doesn’t happen anymore. My understanding from Ben & Jerry’s is that they only had three customers come in that night.”

Despite the franchise’s attempts to facilitate collaboration with University students, Lenard has no plans to work with Ben & Jerry’s in the future.

“We aren’t working with Ben & Jerry’s again,” Lenard said. “Even if organizations do get the money, it’s not an easy business to work with. It was sad to see someone in our community denying money for [the Children’s Miracle Network].”

Despite these past problems, Bierman is optimistic for future successful fundraisers with the University once the protocol takes effect and communication is eased. He stressed the need for full student participation in all future events, including active promotion of the event and distribution of materials about the charity in the store while the event is occurring.

“I have several very creative ideas for taking our partnership with WU to the next level,” Bierman wrote in an e-mail to Student Life. “I would be delighted to meet with WU to discuss and to also understand what ideas WU may have for how to best leverage our global brand for their betterment.”

Courtesy of Andrew Bort

Josh Bleicher (right) was the leader of ZBT's Movember initiative last fall, which helped raise over $1000 for the Movember Foundation.

“We really wanted to refocus on the good aspects of being a fraternity and not as much on the social because we know it’s been detrimental in the past,” said Andrew Bort, the public relations chair for Zeta Beta Tau (ZBT).

One event, called “Get on the Ball,” will raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. The other event is “Movember,” in which participating students grow out moustaches for all of November and help raise awareness and money for men’s issues like prostate cancer and depression.

“Get on the Ball” will kick off on Oct. 2 at 8:30 p.m. with a concert in College Hall. There will be a $5 entrance fee to see several a capella groups, including the Pikers and the Stereotypes, and student bands, including the Elefanatics, a rock band made up of ZBT members.

The actual event will involve rolling a giant ball around campus Monday through Wednesday. Brothers will be collecting signatures on the ball. Parents and other sponsors will pledge to pay a certain amount for each signature.

“Get on the Ball” is a national ZBT event, and its beneficiary, the Children’s Miracle Network, gives money to children’s hospitals.

“Since it’s the first year, we have realistic expectations, but we’re hoping to raise awareness,” said Corey Cantor, ZBT’s philanthropy chair.

The event hasn’t happened in the past two years because the chapter was on probation by both the University and the national organization.

The chapter has since regained national recognition and is on modified social probation with the University.

“We’ve done plenty of good things in all past semesters. Our main issue is that it’s not as visible to the community as we’d like it to be, and what tends to get out to the public is just the negatives,” Bort said.

But the Movember philanthropy event will be visible indeed.

According to the Movember Foundation’s U.S. website, “Movember challenges men to change their appearance and the face of men’s health by growing a moustache. The rules are simple, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and then grow a moustache for the entire month. The moustache becomes the ribbon for men’s health, the means by which awareness and funds are raised for cancers that affect men.”

Money raised for Movember’s campaign goes to the Prostate Cancer Foundation and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

ZBT will be tabling throughout the month of November to take donations. Last year, ZBT raised more than $1,000 for the Movember Foundation.

The fraternity hopes to get others involved and even have a moustache contest at the end of the month.

“We feel that by having our main events be primarily the charities and philanthropies, that will help the community realize what our goals have been all along,” Bort said.

(L-R) Zach Kelly, Ross Kelly and Mike Young gather donated items in the lobby of Wheeler House on the South 40 as a part of SWAP, a student-run non profit business. (Courtesy of The Office of Sustainability)

Fifteen to 20 desk chairs, 10 to 15 televisions, 40 to 50 desk lamps, 15 to 20 microwaves, a few living room sets, a large number of plastic bins and hangers. This names only a few on the long list of items Sharing With A Purpose collected from Washington University dorms and apartments after move-out this past semester.

Better known as SWAP, the program collects and donates to charity any unwanted reusable items University students leave for trash. The newly established student-owned business has been a member of the Student Entrepreneurial Program since fall 2008 and received non-profit status from Missouri in February 2009.

Seniors Michael Young and Ross Kelley, two of SWAP’s six co-founders and owners, had no idea the group would meet so much initial success.

“We knew a lot of Wash. U. students were concerned about campus sustainability, but we did not expect the response to SWAP to be so positive in only its first year,” Kelley said.

SWAP, however, is certainly not the campus’s only student-run program with conservation and charity in mind. Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) fraternity’s furniture drive, which accepts all non-electronic appliances to donate to the St. Louis-based food bank Operation Food Search, has operated since spring 2002.

Senior Adam Yasinow, president of TKE, said the fraternity’s annual drive has remained successful throughout the years. Yasinow could not provide this year’s final collection number as the drive was still ongoing as of June.

The furniture drive and SWAP make up two of the largest contributors to the Share Our Stuff (S.O.S.) program in the Office of Sustainability at the University. Launched in 2008 under the leadership of Matt Malten, assistant vice chancellor for campus sustainability, S.O.S. seeks to reduce the amount of waste generated each year on campus.

TKE joined S.O.S. after it “ saw a marriage of interests” in the relationship, Yasinow said. SWAP owners also recognized the common ground and saw potential for raising its own publicity with the partnership.

“I cannot stress enough what a tremendous asset our relationship with the S.O.S. campaign and the Office of Sustainability has been, and we only look for further build upon this relationship,” Young said.

SWAP’s main beneficiary is Lydia’s House, a local organization that provides transitional housing for domestic violence survivors. After holding an on-campus sale of its items in late August, SWAP will send the proceeds to Lydia’s House and donate all unsold items to Operation Food Search.

“Our items go back to the Wash. U. community while [other groups] donate their items to outside organizations,” Young said.

Despite the ongoing work of such programs in past years, some students say that the efforts are not well publicized.

2007 alumnus Nicholas Gregg, who currently works for the School of Medicine, said he had never heard of TKE’s furniture drive during his undergraduate years at the University.

“Senior year, when we were moving out of our off-campus house, we did not know of such student groups. So we just left the items [in] the back alleyway, which someone did come and pick it up,” Gregg said.

Sophomore Dan Bernard claims to have heard very little about SWAP this year.

“It sounds good, but the groups need to give out more information and publicize better,” he said.

Bernard and Gregg also said the two groups could end up competing, since both have similar functions.

“It sounds like both organizations target the same group of people and do similar things—why two organizations?” Bernard said, echoed by Gregg’s suggestion that the programs would fare better if they combined their efforts.

The organizers behind the furniture drive and SWAP, however, said they found the relationship with each other and with S.O.S. mutually beneficial.

“We have been able to bounce ideas off of each other to help make the program more successful, and we have been able to share resources,” Young said.

Yasinow believes the cooperation also lets the programs pursue an overall agenda to “actively promote campus sustainability.”

With ever increasing public attention to the need for a sustainable future, the organizers expressed optimism about the success and impact of their efforts.

“Next year, we look to strengthen and continue our relationship with the S.O.S. drive. We have a strong relationship with Operation Food Search and look to continue our philanthropic cause,” Yasinow said.

SWAP expects an even more successful drive next year, Young said.

“As this was our first year, there is plenty of room for improvement and efficiency on our end. We hope to achieve our current goals at a higher level—promote our campus’s sustainability while benefiting a local charity.”

SWAP will host its sale on the South 40 on Aug. 21-22 and in the Village on Aug. 23-24.