Suffolk University staff, deans and student leaders were treated to facefuls of whipped cream at the Center for Community Engagement’s “Pie A Ram” event Nov. 14.
The event, held on the second floor of the Sawyer building, invited students to pay $3 to pie a student leader or staff member, such as Student Government Association President Clinton Oreofe or Director of Student Leadership and Involvement Casey Mulcare. For $5, students could pie deans such as the Dean of Undergraduate Student Affairs Amanda McGrath and Vice President for Student Affairs Laura Ferrari.
The event was held as a way to fundraise for the CCE’s Alternative Spring Break program. The $230 raised benefits deposits for those going on this year’s service trips.
Kerry Matthews, a sophomore sociology major, said the idea for “Pie A Ram” was inspired by an event held last year in Miller Hall where residents could pie their RAs.
“[The Miller Hall event] was super successful. We raised a lot of money for charity, so we thought it’d be a good idea to raise money for the community once again,” said Matthews.
Mena Vollano, the CCE’s administrative coordinator and overseer of the ASB program, said the community aspect of “Pie A Ram” made it a good way to start fundraising for ASB.
“This was just a way to start the fundraising process in a fun way that builds community and also gets everyone at Suffolk involved,” Vollano said.
This was the first time the CCE has done fundraising for ASB since before the COVID-19 pandemic. In the past, it had run fundraisers such as poinsettia sales, wellness bag sales and silent auctions.
Vollano said it was up to the trip leaders to reach out to and coordinate with the staff to bring the event together.
The light-hearted nature of “Pie A Ram” made the event fun for those who participated. The staff laughed with every pie that was thrown and students enjoyed having the opportunity to pie their favorite staff members.
“[There’s] definitely a sense of community because you know that when you’re being pied, you have personal relationships with those people,” McGrath said. “Everyone who pied me I felt like I really had a connection to and it’s all in good fun.”
Although it wasn’t part of the plan, Vollano and some of ASB’s trip leaders eventually put on ponchos, giving students the opportunity to pie them as well.
Vollano expressed her appreciation for all who participated, especially those who volunteered to be pied.
“It’s not easy to be hit with whipped cream for an hour and a half, a little more than that, and it’s definitely harder to clean up. So thank you to them and the Suffolk students who participated. They made it fun,” Vollano said.
