When psychology professor Saba Safdar’s students wanted to raise money for A Dare to Remember, a fundraiser for the Stephen Lewis Foundation, they didn’t sell raffle tickets or hold a bake sale. Instead, they staged a flash mob in Branion Plaza on Nov. 1. “The students really got into it,” says Safdar. They raised $200.

Last year, Safdar and her students cross-dressed for the charity that supports HIV-AIDS projects in Africa. “In my lecture, I talked about HIV-AIDS, how the disease spreads, and how Africa has been particularly affected,” says Safdar, who teaches courses on the psychology of gender and cross-cultural psychology. “It created conversation among them and that was the aim I was hoping to achieve.”