Just one day after the first significant snowfall of the year, dozens of students on Jan. 21 braved the ice and frigid waters of Lake Mary Nell for the 2009 Polar Bear Plunge. The sixth annual event, which featured gift card prizes to local retail merchants and restaurants, doubled as a fundraiser for the World Wildlife Fund.
Organizers broke apart the ice coating the surface near the entry point to ensure students wouldn’t slip as they entered the lake. Groups of five took turns jumping into the murky water, lunging for multi-colored plastic boats that represented prizes to merchants such as Starbucks, Target and Panera Bread.
“Peer pressure brought me out to this!” said freshman Jack Rodenfels of Columbus, Ohio. “My friends all wanted to do it and I thought it would be fun.”
And was it fun?
“My heart felt like it stopped for a second,” Rodenfels said of the experience. He then paused for a moment. “I’d suggest other people do it because the T-shirts are pretty cool!”
The plunge marked the first time that organizers attempted to raise money for a cause, said Amanda Haefner a senior who led the project. The goal, she said, was to donate enough money through cash contributions and meal plan donations to adopt a polar bear through the World Wildlife Fund.
The plunge is the only time of the year where students are given permission to enter the water of Lake Mary Nell. The freezing water midday Wednesday simply added to the experience.
“I know the nurses (in the health center) aren’t happy with it,” Haefner said with a grin, “but we’re letting students do it for bragging rights.”
The North Area Council and the Resident Student Association sponsored the noontime plunge. T-shirts were given to all participants.
