Models in Kappa Sigma fraternity’s “Girls of SB” calendar are helping to preserve the Santa Barbara coastline, one string bikini at a time.

Kappa Sigma officially began selling the 12-month calendar featuring shots of scantily-clad UCSB women on Oct. 3 in front of the UCen and at the Arbor, where they continue to be sold. The money made from the calendars, which cost $10 each, will help pay for the relatively new fraternity’s charter fee and will be donated to the Shoreline Preservation Fund, said Eric Negendank, a fifth-year film studies major and member of Kappa Sigma. Calendars can also be ordered at www.girlsofucsb.com and can be personally delivered by Negendank within two days.

“Another charter did the same thing at the University of Raleigh and had a really successful calendar,” Negendank said.

Brian Johnson, a fifth-year political science major and Kappa Sigma member, said the UCSB chapter of Kappa Sigma was founded a year ago and is still in the process of paying its $2,500 charter fee. If all 1,000 calendars are sold, $6,000 would go toward paying the printing costs and the fraternity’s charter. Johnson, who was also the production assistant for the project, said the remaining $4,000 would go to the Shoreline Preservation Foundation — a local organization that seeks to preserve and protect the beach ecosystem.

“We kind of wanted to do something for the local area because we live on the beach,” Johnson said. “So why not keep it up?”

As of last week, Negendank said they have sold 100 of the 1,000 calendars they ordered, which cost a total of $3,000 to print.

Santa Barbara City College student Julian Ungano, who worked as the photographer for the calendar, said he offered his services pro bono last spring when the project began because he had been a member of Kappa Sigma at Pratt College in New York, and wanted to help out his former fraternity.

“I’m more of a fine art photographer,” Ungano said. “The calendar is different. I’ve never really done work like that before. I’m happy with it but I don’t think it’s representative of what I’ve done in the past.”

Since its debut last Monday, Ungano said there have been no negative comments about the calendar’s content. However, he said some people who worked on the project were concerned with how the public might react.

“I don’t really give a shit what everyone else thinks about it…” Ungano said. “There’s a lot of beautiful people in Santa Barbara, so I don’t see a problem with celebrating that.”

Johnson said Kappa Sigma found the girls for the calendar through advertisements on facebook.com, word of mouth and through friends. He said they selected the calendar’s subjects from the group of women who showed up at the open casting calls.

Brittany Cooper, a second-year psychology major, said the women featured in the calendar spoke with fraternity members in charge of the project, telling them what they wanted out of the shoot, before any work began. Negendank said the girls picked their own bathing suits so they would feel more comfortable.

All of the girls involved received copies of the photos and free calendars as souvenirs, Ungano said. Included in the list of UCSB women posing for the calendar are third-year psychology major Carina Ruggiero and Cooper, who posed for the month of October.

“We asked Brittany,” Ungano said. “I knew her from around … She trusted us not to make her look like a total whore. That was my personal goal and I think it worked out.”

Ruggiero, who posed for the month of February, said she decided to participate in the project because she thought it was for a good cause.

“I would definitely do it again,” Ruggiero said. “The people I worked with were really cool and it’s for a good cause.”

Negendank said Kappa Sigma wants to do the calendar again next year, but Johnson said a second run of the project will depend on how many are sold this year.

Print