Freshamn Eric Bohanan, left, and senior James Joyce spent more than $1,000 between them both from their Tiger Dining account on faculty, staff and students on Thursday. They spent nearly two hours in Lowder Lounge buying anything for anyone who walked in.
Annie Earl, an office administrator for the college of business, called The Plainsman to "report" the generous acts of two young men in the Lowder lounge at approximately 2 p.m. today.
"There's two young men down here in Lowder at the lounge, and they've been buying things for people and being charitable, and I think they need to be recognized," Earl said in a phone call to The Plainsman earlier today.
In just less than two hours, Joyce, senior in information systems and Bohanan, freshman in history, managed to bring more than $1,000 in sales to the Lowder lounge.
"At the start of today, I had $485," Joyce said. "Now I have $60 left."
Bohanan admits that trying to get $1,000 in sales for the Lowder lounge was not their original intention.
"It started as trying to get to $500 in sales, then $600, then once we got to $700 we thought we might as well try for $1,000," Bohanan said.
Large amounts of students and faculty soon found out about the act of kindness.
"Word spread fast ... people were bringing out bags with $30, $40 worth of stuff in them," Joyce said.
Some students took more than the two young men expected.
"Some guy came in here and got 10 energy drinks, other person came in and got a case of energy shots," Bohanan said.
Joyce joked that they were helping students along in their studies.
"College students need to drink their caffeine, so why not for free?," Joyce said jokingly.
While the act of charity did not go unnoticed with many thanks, it also brought up questions about the ethics of Auburn's mandatory dining plan for all students.
"I'm lucky that my parents will pay the fee if my dining dollars expire, but I'm not any happier about them paying that than paying it myself," Joyce said.
Joyce said he doesn't eat on campus, which led to his large amount of dining dollars.
"I don't eat any of the food on campus ... it's mostly fast food and I'm losing weight, so I'm choosing to eat a specialized diet plan," Joyce said. "I'm never on campus long enough to bother."
Academic Adviser for the college of business Terrell Bean commented about the captive nature of money on the dining plan.
"I thought that was very nice of those boys to do that, but for them to have to do that because of the system makes me feel a little bad," Bean said. "I take issue, with the way the economy is today, they could've used that money for moving back home, rent, books, etc."
Toward the end of the two hours, Joyce and Bohanan's total was $961.07. With the purchase of a case of diet soda each, the total was more than $1,000.
Many around Lowder expressed their gratitude toward the kindness of the two young men.
"I'm just glad that they were able to get something nice for everybody. Anyone in the classrooms, professors, everybody," Earl said.
Does the University really believe that we cannot make decisions about when and where to spend our money on food choices?
The Lowder Lounge is staffed daily by only one person, LaTanesia. Eric and I didn't give her much notice, and she was a crucial part of this working out for the best. So many thanks to her as well!
If you feel as I do, that the required meal plans are unfair to students, who pay enough fees already, I urge you to contact the university and voice your opinion.