Pie a Prof

Semra Sevi is probably not the first student ever to have daydreamed about getting back at a prof for handing out a lousy mark. But she’s likely the first to have turned the idea into a successful fundraising campaign.

Because of Sevi, several lucky students got to “pie” their prof at an event in March – and help raise $13,700 for child refugees in Jordan.

Since 2011, millions have fled violence in Syria – many to neighbouring Jordan, a country that’s poorly equipped to handle the influx of newcomers now living in temporary camps.

Sevi, a master’s student in political science, became deeply concerned about the situation and approached War Child Canada with an offer to support schooling for refugee children in Jordan.

Sevi then convinced six professors to compete in “Pie-a-Prof.” Whoever raised the most money would be spared the public embarrassment of getting a pie in the face.

In mid-March, the dollars were counted, and Clifford Orwin, of political science, was declared the winner. He, along with dozens of onlookers, got to watch as colleagues Janice Stein, Nelson Wiseman, Jeffrey Kopstein, Robert Austin and Paul Gooch lined up to have a plate of whipped cream smeared in their face. “For a student fundraiser, I think it was a successful one!” says Sevi, who credits professors Michael Ignatieff and Paul Kingston for making the event possible.