Alex Shadrow told her friends they could buy her love for $1 Wednesday night at Boston University Central where she and four other contestants tried to hang from the wall with duct tape.
“I hope I’m going to stick,” the College of General Studies sophomore said. “We’re focusing on torso and forgetting about legs. Reinforcement is the key word.”
Shadrow was one of five contestants who stood taped to a wall while standing on chairs at the second annual “Tape Your Friends to the Wall!,” a BU Dance Marathon fundraiser. About 50 students paid $1 for each foot of duct tape to watch contestants as the chairs were moved away from the winners.
School of Education senior Laura Leahy, co-chair of the marathon, said the contest aroused students’ interest.
“It’s kind of confusing when you first hear about it,” Leahy said. “Students ask, ‘Why are you taping people to a wall?’ Well, to see if they stick.”
Contest coordinators told students to do whatever they could to stick to the wall, said College of Communication senior Eric Si, who organized the challenge with Leahy.
“It’s just a lot of winging it,” Si said.
SED senior Amanda DoAmaral, one of the contestants, said the coordinators determined the winner based on how well, not how long, students stuck up to the wall.
The winner, CGS sophomore Jason Feldman, stayed up until his friends took him down from the wall, while other contestants struggled to keep themselves up.
The BU Dance Marathon has been raising money for HIV/AIDS since its inception 10 years ago. The marathon and fundraisers leading up to it each year raise money for The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and One Heartland.
The tape your friends fundraiser, which coordinators discovered online, raised $243 from the 243 feet of tape that were sold, Leahy said.
Feldman said he was excited when he heard BU Dance Marathon was using the event as this year’s fundraiser again.
“I’ve had friends who’ve done it at other schools and it’s been a really big success,” Feldman said. “I know that they’ve done it before, so I jumped at the opportunity and do something like this for a great cause.”
The BU Dance Marathon chair members Leahy and Si said members selected high-profile students from student groups on campus, “five elite,” that would attract people to the fundraiser and invited them, Si said.
Feldman and Shadrow were recommended due to their involvement in the fraternity Sigma Chi and sorority Alpha Delta Pi, respectively.
Preparation for the fundraiser included buying several rolls of duct tape and a large number of Goo Gone, Leahy said.
Feldman said he was doubtful he was going to end up sticking to the wall and ultimately win the contest.
“Having no strategy actually turned out to be a really good strategy,” he said. “Hopefully they’ll have me back again next year, and maybe I can keep my title.”
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