News-Letter

It's Spring Fair, that Mecca of food, drink and cheap shopping. But past the pad thai, chicken on a stick and fried Oreos, there is a crowd forming. It starts modestly and slowly grows in size; the focal point is a table, behind which are two chairs. Sitting in each is a brother from the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. Behind each brother stands someone with a razor and underneath are tufts of hair. The brothers are nearly bald.

Rather than being a pledge task or a fraternity prank, Sig Ep's head-shaving table was an event for charity. "We have a brother, [sophomore] Michael DeWane, ... who has a close family friend who suffers from Crohn's disease," said sophomore Alex King, Sig Ep's president. "And he came up with the idea to do something for Crohn's disease." The idea? To shave their heads in exchange for donations from family and friends toward Crohn's research.

Crohn's is a chronic gastrointestinal disease. It does not affect the hair; the brothers' intention was to create a "visual statement."

DeWane came up with the idea shortly before spring break. His father's friend from college has a 13-year-old son who suffers from Crohn's disease, a gastrointestinal disease which causes breaks in the lining of both the small and large intestines. Crohn's disease is frequently linked to a second disorder, Ulceratice colitis, in which the intestines become inflamed. Both diseases have no medicinal cure and suffers have the diseases fluctuate between periods of activity and remission.

DeWane considers the boy his "little brother," and says a large motivating factor in DeWane's decision to come to Hopkins was the opportunity to live near him and to act as a mentor, older brother, role model and pillar of support.

"A bunch of us [were] sitting around and talking in an informal meeting -- we had been thinking about ways we could be involved in our community because we pride ourselves on being involved c9 and one of the brothers came up with the idea of shaving our heads for Crohn's disease," said sophomore Sameer Bhalla. Despite the somewhat drastic nature of what they intended to do, "most of us were pretty receptive," Bhalla said. 5f"There was no one who really complained, especially because of the cause that [it] was going to." Crohn's disease "is something that affects so many people. We decided that it would be a really great thing to do; we really wanted to help out as much as we could," added sophomore Paulo Farqui.

After presenting his idea to the brotherhood, Sig Ep contacted the contacted the Maryland chapter of the National Crohn's and Colitis Foundation, and informed the organization of what it was that they planned to do. The foundation responded by sending the brothers some brochures and various different informational hand-outs, video-tapes and bracelets. The Foundation also sent a teddy bear for DeWane's "little brother." For Sig Ep, however, according to King, the goal wasn't so much to "push the informative aspect very much."

The timing could not have been better. With the approach of Spring Fair eminent, the brothers decided to make it their goal to raise as much money as possible to donate to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

Advertising before the weekend began was vital; it was the personal responsibility of each of the five pledges and 16 brothers volunteering to be shaven to raise money individually. Facebook groups and events were created individually to gain support, and fliers were posted around campus as each brother tried to convince his family and friends that he was the one to donate money to. Tables were constructed in front of Fresh Food Caf8e and Nolan's on 33rd, where students could pay $5 for a raffle ticket, which would entitle them to the privilege of personally shaving the brother of their choice's head on Spring Fair weekend. But the primary way that Sig Ep was able to raise money? Word of mouth.

"Most of the brothers involved in getting their heads shaved formed their own Facebook events. It became very much [about] supporting a specific brother to raise as much money as they could. People with friends -- and multiple friends [as brothers] -- would donate to each of them," King said. There was an "overall group mentality to raise money," with the target goal being $1,500, with 20 brothers to participate with at least $100 raised by each. Donations came primarily at the donator's discretion, varying from a few dollars to larger sums. Sig Ep brother (and senior) Will Knapp's father donated $500, while a local community member who suffers from Crohn's disease herself donated $100 on her own. Her mother later matched her daughter's donation. At press time, the total was still being counted, but it is estimated that Sig Ep was able to raise at least $2,700.

And then it was Spring Fair. The sky was only slightly overcast, and the scent of beef and funnel cake was in the air. The the brothers of Sig Ep got ready for their big day. Located with the other non-profit groups outside of AMR I, the brothers readied themselves and their razors. Running in shifts from their hot dog booth -- the proceeds from which also went to the National Crohn's and Colitis Foundation -- volunteers lined up and prepared themselves.

The brothers volunteered on their own to get their heads shaved; it wasn't a pledge task or something that the fraternity had made mandatory, but everyone was still involved. Brothers shaved one another's heads, collected money for each other and publicized the event.

Sophomore Wes Hung, Sig Ep's philanthropy chair, said that a lot of the event's success was due to 5f"the `wild' factor of the event." Brothers were letting passersby, pledges, fellow brothers, girlfriends, classmates and community members shave their heads. "I've never even buzzed my head before. My hair was fairly short, but I'd never even had a buzz. I was a little nervous at first, but it was for a good cause. Lots of brothers were doing it, so I figured might as well," Bhalla said, who had his head shaved on Saturday. He was able to raise over $300 on his own.

"I am happy that our own brothers came out to support the brothers in this event, making fun of brothers for having designs shaved into their heads. It was a fun event for people who were there watching, brothers who were having theirs shaved. [It] made it a lot more fun for all who participated in the event," Hung said. A few brothers who had not previously decided to shave their heads got into the spirit of things and joined up at the last minute, while the audience watching the spectacle made sure that no brothers backed out.

Farqui was the first brother to have his head shaved. "It was all right. Some people knew what they were doing, others didn't. It was definitely a fun and interesting experience; something I would do again if it was for a good cause."

As the Friday and Saturday of Spring Fair went on, more than just brothers began to participate. While no other Greek organizations participated, Rob Turning, the coordinator of Greek Life at Hopkins, visited the table and donated money to the cause. Jay Garrett, president of the Sigma Phi Epsilon Alumni Association, not only stopped by to lend his successors a hand, but had his head shaved as well. The brothers helped shave each other's heads, getting into the spirit by shaving designs and patterns into the heads of their unsuspecting victims. "It was a little crazy, people kept finding things in people's hair. Some people shaved it long, others really short; did crazy designs," King said.

The crowd was heaviest on Friday, when the shock factor had its full value. "It was a look of amusement, disbelief sometimes c9 people walking by and seeing people with half-shaven heads. We were able to accumulate a pretty decently sized crowd. It was certainly visible enough to generate enough attention to get people to stop by and ask what was going on," King said. Unfortunately, the event was rained out on Sunday, but the two brothers who were supposed to be shaven then are having it done during their weekly meeting. "It's definitely something that could be a great annual event c9 We'll have to devise another scheme. But we definitely want to continue giving back to the community," Bhalla said. While Sig Ep is no longer actively pursuing donations, they are still collecting money that had been pledged at an earlier time.

As to the overall success of the event, the brothers are feeling proud. They managed to surpass their desired goal by almost double, while simultaneously raising on-campus awareness of Crohn's disease. "I enjoyed doing it, but I did not like having my head sun-burned," Farqui said. "Other than that it was a great experience c9 we just wanted to shine a positive light on fraternity life here at Hopkins."

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