Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Calendars for a Cure

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JINWOO CHONG/THE HOYA
JINWOO CHONG/THE HOYA The fraternity hopes to build on the success of last year’s “Nice Guys of AEPi” calendar, which raised nearly $1,000 for bone marrow research at the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.
JINWOO CHONG/THE HOYA
The fraternity hopes to build on the success of last year’s “Nice Guys of AEPi” calendar, which raised nearly $1,000 for bone marrow research at the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation.

The brothers of Alpha Epsilon Pi will release their second annual “Nice Guys of AEPi” calendar, chock-full of model esque photos of members dressed up as lumberjacks, posed with puppies and sailing books in late November.

Each calendar, available for pre-order until midnight, Oct. 18, costs $18, and proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.

The 2016 calendar aims to epitomize the “nice Jewish boy” archetype, according to brother Elliot Frank (SFS ’18).

Although not all the members of AEPi are Jewish, Frank said that all fraternity members strive to embody the same values.

JINWOO CHONG/THE HOYA With its second annual “Nice Guys of AEPi” Calendar, the predominantly Jewish fraternity hopes to raise money for cancer awareness, selling each calendar at $18.
JINWOO CHONG/THE HOYA
With its second annual “Nice Guys of AEPi” Calendar, the predominantly Jewish fraternity hopes to raise money for cancer awareness, selling each calendar at $18.

“They tend to be academically driven, kind, respectful, charismatic and of course kind of quirky,” Frank said. “It should be no surprise then that many girls, Jewish and non-Jewish, are told by their parents at a young age to ‘go find yourself a nice Jewish boy.’ …We wanted the calendar to be funny by creating what we joke of to be the epitome of the Georgetown gentleman, while at the same time portray the quirkiness of our inner NJB-ness.”

The brothers got the idea from TV producer Adam Cohen, who started selling similar calendars, originally featuring “nice Jewish boys” dressed up as supermodels and toned firemen in 2010. Although the idea was a joke at first, the brothers decided the calendar could be an effective fundraising tool in adherence to the fraternity’s philanthropic mission.

“Philanthropy is one of the fundamental principles of AEPi,” Benjamin Reiser (COL ’17), the fraternity’s philanthropy chair, said. “We believe it is very important to give back to the community, especially because we are all so lucky to have the opportunity to study at such a fantastic institution such as Georgetown.”

The 2016 calendar’s proceeds will go directly to the American Cancer Society, a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer in the more than one million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year. Last year’s calendar proceeds, totaling at around $1,000, were given to the Gift of Life Bone Marrow Foundation, which facilitates transplants for children and adults suffering from life-threatening illnesses including leukemia, lymphoma, other cancers and genetic diseases. The organization has 242,716 registered donors and has facilitated 2,912 transplants to date in mroe than 44 countries.

“The decision came from general group consensus that cancer research was a venue for our proceeds that means something personally to quite a lot of our brothers,” Reiser said.

Though they are using an unconventional approach to fundraising, the brothers are quite aware that the “Nice Guys of AEPi” calendar is supposed to be funny, even a little ridiculous.

“Campus and charity groups are always trying to raise money, and we just found that [the calendar] was an especially innovative and exciting way to do it,” brother Arbel Efraty (SFS ’18) said.

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