Back in the fall, President Benjamin Ladner was unceremoniously removed from office at AU after discrepancies in his contract's salary. Now it seems as if his name will also be removed from one of the AU Crew team's boats after a boat-renaming raffle held this week.
The "Erase Ladner" raffle was held this past week, with members selling tickets on the quad from Monday to Thursday to replace the piece of black tape that has been placed over the name "Benjamin Ladner" on its Vespoli eight boat since Ladner's removal.
After four days of fundraising, the eventual winners were the parents of sophomore Ellie Willard, the treasurer of the team. They decided to rename the boat "Sweet Caroline," a reference to the Neil Diamond song that is played at Fenway Park during the eighth inning of every Red Sox home game.
"My parents decided to name it this way since we are from Massachusetts and are huge Red Sox fans," Willard said.
The ceremony to honor the winner of the raffle was held on Saturday, with long-time donor Pierre Han in attendance. Han was named an honorary member of the team after all the contributions he has made over the years.
Said senior Erica Baca, "He first discovered us a couple of years ago when we were training indoor at the Jacobs gym. He said that he liked our dedication and was willing to help us out. Now, he comes to cheer us on at many of the regattas, including the season finale in Philadelphia. It was great to see him there."
Overall, the raffle was a great success. President Ashton Rogers said that the team raised over $1,000, which will go a long way to helping the team fund their trips to various regattas.
The team has two remaining races left, the Mid-Atlantic Championships next weekend in Lorton, Va. followed by the prestigious Dad Vail regatta in Philadelphia to wrap up the season. Hopefully this new name will give good luck to the team and inspire it to victory in these last two events.
