Never thought you'd see DiBiaggio in an apron, tablecloths at Dewick, or a real country auction? Well, guests at the Leonard Carmichael Society's annual Faculty Waits on You Dinner and Auction (FWOYD) got to see all that, and much more, last night - and all for the sake of charity.
All proceeds from the dinner and auction - which featured a cappella performances and thirty-six prizes to bid on - benefit the Somerville Homeless Coalition. To enter, guests paid $5 in addition to the usual dining hall meal price. As for the auction, subsequent bidding on big-ticket items like "The Last Hurrah Senior Week Package" went as high as $225.
LCS volunteers nominated faculty and members of the administration to serve dinner to students, while FWOYD co-coordinators Cat Wolmar and Rob Lott solicited items to auction from both on- and off-campus sources.
"We had big donations from the Bacows and the DiBiaggios," Wolmar said. "It's often Tufts-related items that sell really well."
President Bacow and his wife Adele donated an evening for one lucky bidder and three friends consisting of a campus show followed by dessert and coffee at Gifford House. President Emeritus DiBiaggio offered lunch and a ride in his "classic auto" for two students. DiBiaggio wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty, either - he also served as a waiter at the dinner.
"I'm delighted to be here," he said. "I've done this before, and it's always nice for the students to see [the administration] in a different context. It also goes to a great cause."
Other faculty staffers agreed. Jonathan Kenny, a chemistry and American Studies professor, was so excited to be a part of the evening's festivities that he brought his five young sons along.
"It's great to see the students outside of class," Kenny said. "It breaks down barriers."
The event took place in Dewick-MacPhie, where students were served salad, dinner, and dessert by professors and deans. Attendees were serenaded by the Beelzebubs and sQ, who performed one song each. Then Mark Alston-Follansbee, Executive Director of the Somerville Homeless Coalition, spoke to the group before the auction commenced.
Alston-Follansbee talked about the history of the Somerville Homeless Coalition and Tufts' contributions to the organization, and provided some facts about homelessness both in the United States and specifically in Massachusetts.
The Somerville Homeless Coalition was founded in 1985 as a "faith-based, community response to homelessness," according to Alston-Follansbee. He pointed out that it wasn't until the Red Line of the "T" expanded to include Alewife that people realized there were actually homeless people in Somerville.
The Coalition's first shelter was started in 1986 by the College Ave. Methodist Church in a converted bowling alley. According to Alston-Follansbee, in the beginning, there were just a handful of staffers and about eight Tufts students "who would come down and stay awake all night, to make sure the people coming to the shelter were protected."
The organization has grown much larger over the years, adding a family shelter in East Somerville, two food pantries, and case management to help the local homeless find housing. Last year, about 300 Tufts students volunteered at food drives, weekly Monday night dinners, and food pantries in Somerville. Alston-Follansbee said the FWOYD provides incredible financial support but that the Coalition still appreciates volunteers.
"We're really grateful for the direct benefit, but it's just as important to get student volunteers. We want them to have a meaningful [volunteer] experience; to really talk to someone and get to know about their problems," he said. "The only way to change societal problems is to work on them together."
Alston-Follansbee said there are currently between 800,000 and one million homeless people in the United States, and many of those are children. In Massachusetts alone, 18% of children are poor, and 10% are characterized as very poor.
LCS is hoping that their event will help ameliorate these problems, if only locally.
"This is one of our biggest fundraising events," said Kate Donohue-Rolfe, Vice President of LCS. "It's great to carry on the tradition - [the dinner and auction] have always gone towards the Somerville Homeless Coalition."
About 194 people were in attendance at this year's FWOYD, and Donohue-Rolfe said that more items were offered to be auctioned than ever before.
Freshman Alyssa Lillo, a first-time FWOYD attendee, said she was excited to "eat good food, hear a cappella, and get served by [her] professors."
Track coach and self-described "country auctioneer" Connie Putnam has been a part of the FWOYD for 16 years. He prefaced the auction by saying that he "sells fast," and the items were indeed snatched up quickly.
Favorite Tufts eateries like Redbones, Diva, Caf?© de Crepe, Rudy's, and Tasty Gourmet all donated meals; tickets to a Red Sox game, Boston comedy clubs, and exercise classes were also popular items. For the slightly more intellectual crowd, passes to the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science, performances by the Boston Pops and the Boston Philharmonic, and a professors-versus-students Trivial Pursuit match were offered. TSR laundry service, private acapella shows, and even a Tufts hat signed by former Vice President Al Gore were also auctioned off. The auction raised $4,640 altogether.
Wolmar's said that her favorite part of the evening was "handing that check over to the Somerville Homeless Coalition."
The Faculty Waits on You Dinner and Auction was sponsored by the Leonard Carmichael Society and the Inter-Greek Council.
