The participants of the Students for Justice and Liberation Pumpkin Plunge event as they enter Lake Superior. Photo by. Sophie Keis

Park Point Beach in Duluth is a common place for people to plunge into the cold waters of Lake Superior, with multiple groups across the city hosting polar plunge events during Minnesota’s cold winters. A new group rushing into the water at Park Point is Students for Justice and Liberation at UMD.

Students for Justice and Liberation hosted their Pumpkin Plunge fundraiser on Sunday, Nov. 9. Each participant paid five dollars to plunge, and those who weren't participating could donate as well. All of the proceeds from the Pumpkin Plunge event went to the Center for Changing Lives to help support homeless youth.

At 12:30 PM, when the plunge itself took place, some of the first snowflurries of the season fell on the beach. The temperature during the event was around 20 degrees, with the attendees huddling in the Park Point gazebo and behind the beach’s trees to try and stay warm.

Rafael Toledo, one of the UMD students who participated in the Pumking Plunge, quickly threw on multiple towels and blankets as he walked from the beach back to the gazebo, where he could dry off and warm up.

“I was expecting it to be a little worse, but it's still a little cold. My legs feel like they're on fire,” Toledo said.

Around 20 people came to watch and attend the event, with four of those people actually plunging into the lake. Among the plungers were UMD students and community members. One of the students who went into Lake Superior was the Public Relations officer of Students for Justice and Liberation, Autumn Bestgen.

“Honestly, I couldn't really feel the water because of how cold it already was.  But once I got out of the water, I was like, I felt like pins and needles,” Bestgen said. And honestly, after doing it I'd do one again.”

While Bestgen was the only board member of SFJL to plunge, the other organizers were at the beach as well, handing out towels, blankets, and hot chocolate. Students for Justice and Liberation President Nicole Diaz delivered the hot chocolate to Park Point right as the plungers returned from the water.

A collection of mugs donated by the Students for Justice and Liberation board and attendees to be used for hot chocolate. Photo by. Sophie Keis

The Pumpkin Plunge was SFJL’s first time doing a polar plunge, and the first time most of the board had worked on a larger event like this. It was a learning experience as they figured out how to make the event work, and what it takes to put on an event like a polar plunge.

“It was more than I expected. Like, I didn't expect to have to think about little things, but. I think it went well. I think people had fun and they showed up, and the main idea was to just raise money for the center of changing lives is what we did, which is good,” explained Diaz.

“We had to look up how a lot of other polar plunges do it, and then after that, we planned all the equipment that we may need, some extra things like hot cocoa, and blankets for people to use. We brought extra towels, but yeah, then setting up was good. We didn't exactly know how we were going to do it, but we did it,” Bestgen said.

Students for Justice and Liberation is a student-run organization whose mission is to build awareness around human rights issues, oppression systems and liberation by educating students and working directly in the Duluth community.

SFJL Events Coordinator James Robles described the organization as “a group of people just trying to reach the community and find ways to spread awareness about things going on in the world, and how we can join together to make things better and help people and improve the state of the world in any way that we can.”

Alongside the polar plunge, SFJL also does other events to raise awareness and raise funds for different causes in the Duluth area and worldwide as well.

“Last year, we did a lot of Palestine work, so we did a fundraiser where we raised money to give to families in Palestine during Ramadan, which was really, really good. We raised, I think, over $600 for that, which was amazing,” Diaz said.

Throughout the rest of the year, SFJL has more events planned to help support students on campus and those in Duluth. Diaz and the rest of the board have plans for a hygiene drive, a Thanksgiving dinner event for the Duluth homeless community and an art show.

“For like two years we wanted to do an art show,” Diaz said. “It's like an auction, and then all the pieces will be going to the artist’s place of choice. I know a lot of people would want it to go to Palestine or Congo. I think it would be really cool to have a place where everyone can show their artwork and then it goes to a good place.”

For more information about Students for Justice and Liberation and their upcoming events, you can find them on Instagram, and you can join their group on Bulldog Connect.

Students for Justice and Liberation Freezes And Raises Funds At Polar Plunge