Camp Out on the Quad is my fraternity's big fall philanthropy event for our national philanthropic organization: Push America. It works like this: We camp out on the quad 24/7 until we reach a benchmark funds goal. This year, that goal is $7,000. Last year we did $5,000. The Quad is prime territory as far as visual text goes, usually for advertising purposes. Walk around it once and you're almost guaranteed to find something chalked on the paths, benches or buildings. "Chalking the Quad" has become a slogan among RSOs looking to get the word out. Personally, I rarely work to decipher the scribbles of fading chalk.

So despite the heavy foot traffic and free audience, the Quad is not all milk and honey for advertising and text. For one, it's so saturated with text (chalk) that we're desensitized to ads. Plus, the Quad itself is so big that you need something big to match it. So we knew we had to go big or go home while designing this "Push America" poster. The goal is to make it big enough and lively enough so that people walking on the other side of the Quad can decipher it. Plus, the orange canopy and blue tent beg for attention. This year, we made Camp Out on the Quad shirts as well, although you don't see them in the picture because after a week of wearing the same rag, it don't smell too spunky.

But it's worked. We've drawn the attention of many students and even B. Joseph White, the president of the University. I won't tell you how much he donated, but we're still out there.