Throwing baked goods at your Computer and Information Science professor might not get you in trouble this week.
Student engineering organizations are celebrating National Engineers Week this week, and a number of events are planned, including breakfasts, dinners with alumni and movie nights.
The festivities will culminate in the annual Pie-Your-Professor event, to be held on tomorrow afternoon, which this year will benefit a charity in honor of a classmate with cancer.
Engineers Week is meant to "instill a sense of pride and spirit in the [Engineering] student community," Engineering junior Shannon Hedvat said.
Hedvat is the president of the Engineering Student Activities Council, an umbrella group for engineering clubs.
Though this year's Engineers Week has no official theme, Hedvat described the festivities as a "celebration of Penngineers."
Engineering sophomore Andrea Loayza said that the events are a good opportunity to interact with other Engineering students and a welcome break from studying.
"It's really nice that they have something like this. ... I'm really enjoying it."
While many of the events are geared toward socialization, others are more serious.
The American Institute of Chemical Engineers' corporate dinner tomorrow night is a traditional event that gives attendees "a taste of what professional engineers do," according to senior Kusha Tavakoli, the Penn chapter president.
Nevertheless, the event that students are looking forward to most is the pie throw, which will raise money for lymphoma research in honor of Engineering sophomore Kevin Rakszawski, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last September.
Rakszawski -- who is on medical leave this year -- said that ESAC members approached him about using the pie toss as a charity fundraiser.
"I'm really humbled that they wanted to do this in my honor," he said.
Rakszawski added that he's glad that the money will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society because lymphoma is a less-well-known form of cancer and does not get very many donations.
During the pie toss, students can pay $2 to pie a professor. Participants will also receive a T-shirt and ice cream.
Engineering senior Betsy Lee has not attended any events so far this week but plans on going to the pie toss because it's "a good deal" and supports a good cause.
Computer and Information Science professor Amir Roth -- one of the professors students will be able to pie tomorrow -- said that he's been asked to participate in the event in years past but only agreed to do it this year for the first time.
Though he said he does not look forward to having pies thrown at him for an hour, "because there's a charity associated with it, I guess I'll make an exception."
For some, however, Engineers Week does not loom large.
Engineering freshman Albert Kong said that has has not gone to any events because he has been "swamped with homework.
"Classes often conflict with the events," he added.
Engineering junior Suzanne Wilson said she has gone to a few food-oriented events because they're "easy to get to," but work has kept her from attending others.
