Senior Lauren Menges has been cancer free for more than a year. When she was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2005, she said she leaned on her twin sister, Katie, for support.
Now, Lauren Menges is teaming up with her sister again. They will be featured on the same page in this year’s swimsuit calendar “Women of UWEC,” in hopes of raising money for cancer research.
In the second year of the calendar, project manager Steve Farina said he hopes to raise more money and make a larger donation to the American Cancer Center. Farina said the campus organization, Students in Free Enterprise, presented the Center with a $6,454 check after selling all 1,000 of its printed calendars.
In effort to earn more money, Farina said they have now added a men’s calendar, “Men of UWEC,” featuring eight or nine male students from UW-Eau Claire. The women’s calendar has 10 photos, including a group shot.
But Farina made it clear there was no selection process. Anyone who volunteered to be in the calendar could. He said the calendar didn’t turn anyone away who was interested.
He said a good number of the models have had a close experience with cancer in their lives.
Last year, the calendar drew criticism from the Women’s and Gender Equality Center for its name, which last year was “Women of UWEC: The Real EC Swimsuit Calendar.” The group said the calendar wasn’t representative of the real women of Eau Claire.
But Farina said the name wasn’t meant to imply it featured the “real women” of Eau Claire, but rather was a spin-off of the Fox TV show.
“That logo was more of a spin-off of Laguna Beach,” he said. “It wasn’t meant to portray the real women of EC. … It was just a fun spin-off.”
WAGE could not be reached for comment.
Lauren Menges said she didn’t like the way people scrutinized the calendar last year.
“A lot of people look negatively at it, but I think the people who look at it negatively have never had cancer,” she said. “You hear everyone talk about cancer … it goes in one ear and out the other. I wanted to put a story behind the face.”
Farina said he is still looking for sponsors for the calendar, which is set to begin selling Dec. 4 in Schneider Hall and Davies Center. Calendars cost $10 or three for $25.
Any parties interested in becoming a sponsor for the calendars can contact Farina at (262) 914-1182 before Wednesday.