Greek Life Fundraiser Nails It – Hands Down!

Penn College's fraternities this week raised $570.32 in an uncommonly colorful way: painting patrons' fingernails in a choice of five shades, each keyed to a particular charitable concern. The "Man-i-Cures for a Cause" event, held from 2-6 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday in the Bush Campus Center, turned the tables on tradition, as the young men (and their adviser) had some serious fun adorning their clientele. "Throughout the event, I saw an astounding​ expression of Greek unity within our community. The amount of teamwork between our chapters was the best I have ever seen in my time here at Penn College," said Mitchell J. Berninger, a web and interactive media major who serves as president of the Interfraternity Council and as programming chairman for Phi Mu Delta. "I believe this was a turning point for our community – not only with getting the Greek Life name throughout campus to students and faculty, but also it showed that we have the capability to work together for a common goal." The final totals were $155.67 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (purple), $120.92 for Susan G. Komen breast cancer prevention (pink), $103.42 for Wise Options' local sexual assault awareness efforts (teal), $101.92 for Autism Speaks (blue) and $88.41 for the local AIDS Resource Alliance (red).

– Photos by Cindy Davis Meixel, writer/photo editor

Staffing the check-in table are Sigma Nu's Christopher M. Scheller (left), who majors in building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration, and Phi Mu Delta's Alexander R. Wetzel, an industrial and human factors design student.

Marquise J. Frederick, a Phi Mu Delta member who majors in electronics and computer engineering technology, is a study in concentration ...

... as is Dustin C. Bailey, a building science and sustainable design: architectural technology concentration major and Phi Mu Delta member.

Quality control is exercised by Tylor J. Burkett, of Sigma Nu, an aviation maintenance technology major who was both a nail-painter ...

President Davie Jane Gilmour chats with Samuel R. Scheide, of Phi Mu Delta, a plastics and polymer engineering technology student, during her salon "appointment."

Nicholas E. Leasure, an engineering design technology major and Phi Mu Delta member, does some personal touch-up during a break in traffic.

A fashionable palette with philanthropic purpose

A fraternity member applies a sheer topcoat to alternating red and purple nails.

... and a "paintee," thanks to Allison A. Bressler, assistant director of student activities for programming and Greek life.

Requiring a different sort of patient demeanor than his pre-nursing major, Sigma Pi's Elijah J. Brown tackles the task with a smile.

President Gilmour, who chose blue for her left hand and teal for the right, admires the work in progress.