I have to admit that when I first heard that Fairfield was trying to put on a Jail ‘n’ Bail fund-raiser, I didn’t think it would work.
With warrants for $5 and bail set at a maximum of $500, it seemed like way too much money for students to want to contribute, especially since Jail ‘n’ Bail was an entirely new concept. It also seemed to be poorly publicized.
I admit that I had no idea of the objective for Jail ‘n’ Bail, and I’m pretty sure all my friends were also clueless.
So needless to say, I was both surprised and impressed when I found out that Fairfield University had raised over $21,000 by the time the last person was let out of jail.
The decision to host the Jail ‘n’ Bail was based on the models that Southern and Central Connecticut State Universities have recently used as fund raisers.
The concept behind it is that students and faculty can ‘arrest’ their friends or professors by paying for a warrant and that person must then raise a set ‘bail’ in order to be released.
Public Safety worked in conjunction with a committee of students to hold a Jail ‘n’ Bail on Fairfield’s campus to raise money for the Special Olympics of Connecticut, which is an organization of which Public Safety works closely.
‘Our goal this year was $5,000,’ said Public Safety Officer Robert Didato. ‘The most Public Safety has ever raised in a year for Special Olympics is $2,800, so we thought $5,000 was a reasonable goal.’
I don’t think anyone actually expected Jail ‘n’ Bail to be such a success.
In the past, Fairfield has not generally been known for its activism, so the fact that Jail ‘n’ Bail raised so much money seems to be a notable and marked improvement.
But, although I’d like to believe otherwise, I doubt the reason had as much to do with raising money for Special Olympics as it was that students thought it was funny.
This event was something different, and students apparently didn’t mind scraping up $5 to watch their friends and professors get arrested, regardless of whether they knew the organization to which their money would be donated.
It also couldn’t have hurt that Wednesday turned out to be beautiful sunny and warm day to be stuck outside in a 15 x 20 cube. I’m sure many students were grateful for an excuse to be outside and work on their tans.
Still, apathy doesn’t raise money, and for whatever motives, students were able to come up with $21,000 to donate.
But the best part of the day was watching Public Safety putter around campus arresting students, looking as though they could not have been happier.
It was nothing short of entertaining to see students running away from Public Safety in the middle of the day without being under the influence.
And Public Safety just laughed; their job had never seemed so fun.
Still, Public Safety officers should be credited for donating their time to help out.
‘The whole department and the students made it work,’ said Didato. ‘Ninety-eight percent of Public Safety was there on their own time, for nine hours, all volunteering.
‘Students get most of the kudos, but Public Safety had a great interaction with everyone, and it was a great way to get everyone involved,’ Dinato added.
For the rare time that Public Safety and students were able to get along, it was nice to see them work to put on such a successful and fun event, which happened to be for a great cause.
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