The car by the clock tower was beaten and battered, to say the least. It had been spray-painted and bore the letters ΘX in several locations. The back windshield was smashed and the mannequin in the car was quite lifeless. At 2:30pm, the brothers of Theta Chi started to move away the barriers that surrounded the car. Sergeant DiFrancesco talked over a megaphone drunk driving. The true message of this poor car is the consequence of driving while intoxicated.
Two fire trucks and several firemen gave a full demonstration of what happens when there is a car accident. One fireman went into the back seat of the car, holding the mannequin’s neck to support the spine, while others went about putting an orange plastic blanket on top of the mannequin. The firemen then proceeded to cut off the driver side door with the Jaws of Life. After removing the driver side door, the dummy was carefully placed onto a backboard and brought away from the car. In all, it took the firemen about ten minutes to extricate the dummy from the vehicle.
Amid the jokes of car insurance, the take home message is really about safety and not drinking and driving. As the dummy was being removed, Theta Chi brothers passed out papers containing a pledge not to drink and drive as well as the “see something, say something” adage. There were many in attendance, including Thea Schoenberg, Assistant Director of Greek Life, who brought her class out to witness the event. It was not a completely somber event: the Hero Campaign was there selling brownies and cupcakes to raise funds.
