Last year, Leukemia & Lymphoma Month was an undeniable success. The school raised an unforeseen total of over $91,000 to donate to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but the SGA has set their sights even higher. SGA president Jorge Richardson is confident that the Whitman community can raise a whopping $100,000 this year.

“We know that’s a little ambitious, but we’re hoping to raise as much as we can,” SGA secretary Rachel Ordan said.

The SGA plans to achieve this goal through organizing  popular events and collecting donations, as usual.

“We’re keeping all the same events that we had last year, and we’re working on just increasing the magnitude of each event and perfecting the details,” Ordan said.

Student bands will face off Wednesday Feb. 5 in the small gym at this year’s Battle of the Bands. Returning performers include Mr. Mannequin and Magnetic Symphony, but there will be new acts as well. People vote for their favorite band through donations, and the band with the most donations in their favor will win. Last year’s event featured a popular performance by Dale and the Zdubbs, and Richardson plans to invite a professional band again this year.

Students, teachers, families and friends, whether athletic or not, are invited to run the Redrush 5k Sunday Feb. 9. The SGA wants to attract 1,000 participants, a significant raise from last year’s 650. To further increase community participation they are introducing a mini-Redrush for younger children.

“For Redrush, the big thing this year is to get a lot of sponsors to start paying for the shirts because last year we spent a lot of our own money, profits, on getting people shirts,” Richardson said.

At Guy Auction Wednesday Feb. 12, the school’s most eligible bachelors will auction off creatively themed dates, like camping trips and baseball games. This year, to prevent their purchasers from being shortchanged, the guys will be required to take their dates out at a time specifically decided at the event.

bRAVE, last year’s most popular event, will take over the gym with flashing lights and roaring music Saturday Feb. 22. The SGA hopes to make the event even bigger and better this year by bringing back a light crew and DJ and gaining even more sponsors and attendants. The SGA is trying to make dinner less chaotic by calling students to get food by the color of the wristband they receive on arrival.

Donations for Battle of the Beards will be collected the week of Feb. 24. Participants, including teachers and select students, will shave at the start of the month and compete to grow impressively long or creatively styled facial hair over the course of the month. The participant who receives the most donations during the week is declared the winner.

Richardson has significant pressure on his shoulders, as he is expected to fill the shoes of last year’s president Jacob Rosenblum. Richardson often asks Rosenblum for advice when planning events.

“Last year, Jacob was very energetic, very motivated, and he was a big reason why LLS month was so successful,” Richardson said. “I really look to him as my inspiration and what I have to surpass.”

As competitive as the Whitman atmosphere is, the SGA keeps in mind the ultimate goal behind the fundraising.

“All of the events and all the effort we put into it is all for the ultimate goal of erasing leukemia and lymphoma,” Ordan said. “So hopefully we’re moving closer in that direction.”