Grad clubs hold party for charity

Graduate students partied at Brasil's Restaurant and Bar last Saturday night -- all in the name of charity. The party, which drew a crowd of more than 300 graduate students, was a fund-raising effort for Christmas In April. The event was sponsored by the West Philadelphia chapter of Christmas In April, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly and the Wharton Cigar Club, according to GAPSA Chairperson and second-year Wharton graduate student Victor Prince. Christmas In April is a national charity organization dedicated to renovating homes of underprivileged families, according to Wharton graduate student Lara Jakubowski, director of Christmas in April West Philadelphia. Although Christmas In April has branches in different cities, the one based in the Wharton School of Business' graduate division is the only student-run chapter in the country, according to second-year Wharton graduate student Elizabeth Chang, who is co-chairperson of fund-raising and special events. In addition to raising money for Christmas In April, the purpose of the event was to introduce the charity to graduate students across the University. "Hopefully those that show up tonight will get involved in April," Jakubowski said. According to Chang, this is the first year Christmas In April has tried to expand its reach to other graduate schools. The charity scheduled a similar event last November, but ticket prices were prohibitively expensive, Prince said. This time around, Christmas In April co-sponsored the event with GAPSA, lowering the ticket prices substantially. "GAPSA has helped cover the cost of the entire party so that every person's ticket money goes straight to the charity," Chang said. Although other ideas -- such as a casino night -- were suggested, the coordinators settled on a dance party. "We opted for a really simple dance party," said Fund Raising and Special Events Co-Chairperson and second-year Wharton graduate student Laurie Bloomgarden. "And it was at a location that had a good atmosphere and was cost effective." Chang and Bloomgarden said publicity for the event was a major difficulty. "If you advertised too far in advance, no one would pay attention," Bloomgarden said. While each ticket sold for $6, purchasing two tickets cost $10. Any Penn student over 21 was welcome to attend. Although advance ticket sales were held in Vance Hall, Chang admitted that "it's hard to get Wharton students to buy tickets in advance." First-year Wharton graduate student Gary Linhart, one of the coordinators of the Brasil's party, attributed the low advance sales to "the fact that people at Wharton don't make their weekend plans 'til Thursday." The ticket sales began a week and a half ago when Wharton Cigar Club President Scott Berniker, a first-year Wharton graduate student, attempted to sell tickets at GAPSA's Mardi Grad Blowout. "We sold about 230 tickets before tonight," Chang said. "People were calling me up until seven o'clock tonight for tickets." The packed upper level of Brasil was evidence of a successful event. "It's an amazing event," Jakubowski said. "We weren't sure how it would turn out last week."