Just hours before the Mustang offense was caged by the LouisianaTech Bulldogs, a handful of willing participants were temporarilyjailed at the North tip of Bishop Boulevard.
Planned before tailgating festivities began, members fromdifferent campus organizations were arrested, detained and held on$250 bond — and all for a worthy cause.
The Steering Committee of Mustang Marathon —February’s 24-hour dance marathon and the largestphilanthropy event on campus — organized Saturday’s”Jail-N-Bail”, which raised a grand total of$4,687.16.
For roughly three hours before kickoff, those in jail welcomedfriends, donations and the companionship of others as they spent anafternoon behind wooden bars.
Dave Roberts, Shuttles hall director and veteran of dancemarathons at other universities, was jailed at 12:30 p.m. andgarnered $300 before exiting the 8-foot by 8-foot by 8-footprison.
“I was very impressed by the amount of people that came tothe jail to give their emotional and financial support andencouragement,” Roberts said. “I thought that it was agreat way to fundraise.”
Over the course of the afternoon, the Kappa Alpha Order led allcampus organizations by raising $1,520.50, spearheaded by GrahamHarrison’s individual high of $594.
The Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority led all Panhellenicrepresentatives with $750.
Junior Garrett Farwell, who served as the secretary/treasurerfor Mustang Marathon last year, felt “Jail-N-Bail” wasa more productive form of gathering proceeds than that offundraisers.
“[Jail-N-Bail was] a giant improvement from the previousyears of operation,” he said.
Farwell, who was imprisoned on behalf of the Sigma Phi Epsilonfraternity, felt the fundraiser was extremely well put together,and the efforts paid off.
“I was thoroughly impressed with the organization,execution and overall impact of the event,” he said.”Overall, [Jail-N-Bail] achieved its goals which is whattruly counts.”
Following a successful weekend, the Steering Committee willcarry on with more fundraising events leading up to the Feb. 25-26marathon.
As for the event itself, Mustang Marathon, in its fourth year ofexistence, will continue to benefit pediatric HIV and AIDSresearch, specifically Bryan’s House and the Elizabeth GlaserFoundation.
For more information visit http://people.smu.edu/mustangmarathon.
