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| By DARON JANIS, William & Mary |
The idea of a hot dog eating contest as a fundraiser came to me last year as I was pondering ideas for a fundraiser that would be unique and involve a large number of students from the law school. The purpose of the fundraiser was threefold: (1) raise money for our JRCLS student chapter; (2) raise money to donate to a good cause at the law school or in the community; and (3) provide the JRCLS with favorable exposure to rest of the law school community. Judging the First Annual JRCLS Hot Dog Eating Contest by those standards, it was a huge success.
The first thing we did to prepare for the contest was to secure the sponsorship of a local hot dog joint, Retro’s, which generously provided all the hot dogs, buns, and a $10 gift certificate for the winner. We also decided that we would donate half of the net revenue to the Kori Carpenter Family Memorial Fund, a fund that was created for the surviving daughters of one of our law librarians who passed away in a house fire in February. During the week prior to the contest, we had participants register in the school’s lobby. We allowed students to “sponsor” their friends by paying the $10 entry fee on their behalf. We ended up with 19 participants: 17 students (15 men and 2 women) and two faculty members.
The contest itself was most likely the most entertaining and memorable event of the year at the law school (memorable not just because it was so much fun but also because the absence of alcohol ensured that the students remembered it; but more on that later). Our own Matt Hansen (2L) took home the first prize as his two daughters cheered him on from the front row of spectators, but it was a very close competition with the difference between first and second place being only 1/4 of a hot dog. Throughout the contest, we sold hot dogs to spectators for $1 per dog, which turned out to be a great idea as the final tally showed that we sold over 100 hot dogs. Most importantly, we were able to avoid any unsightly scenes which might have resulted from a participant eating beyond his or her limits (we limited the contest to five minutes).
This event has sparked a lot of interest at our law school and many students, faculty, and staff have already expressed their desire to be in the contest next year. It also was a great vehicle for letting the students at our school know who the JRCLS was and that we were trying to make the law school community a better place. As an indication of the success of the event, one of our members overheard several non-JRCLS students enthusiastically commenting to each other afterward that the contest was the most fun they had had while sober in law school.
We are already making plans for a bigger and better contest next year. We have secured a commitment from our Lexis rep to be a sponsor and provide Ultimate Rewards points or other prizes for the winner. We are also looking forward to getting more organizations and businesses in the community involved so we can raise more money for us and the charitable cause we find for next year. And for all those students who think a keg is a prerequisite to fun, we plan to have one of those too, only it will be root beer! |
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