MSU crew club president Teaghan Pirtle didn’t think she would serve drinks at a frat fight night, mulch a garden or paint a house when she signed up to row.
She had been accustomed to regular tasks like preparing the boat for the water, racing, and using the erg machine. However, the club promotes a “Rent-a-Rower” program, where students complete odd jobs for people in the Greater Lansing area to raise funds and form a relationship with the community, many of whom see them every day while practicing.
“They always talk about how they hear us on the river. They hear our coaches yelling and coxswains yelling at us since we practice either early in the morning or late at night,” Pirtle said. “No one really complains. They like the idea of supporting us.”
The COVID-19 pandemic practically destroyed the entire club’s support system: the crew had fewer than five members, funding was minimal, and it needed to bounce back. Since 2020, the club has been in a rebuilding period, which has allowed Pirtle and others to utilize the donation program.
Donors can choose a broad spectrum of odd jobs, including moving furniture, gardening and babysitting, or think outside of the box and request some unusual tasks. The rowers, ranging from one to eight per job, are hired for at least two hours and have to be paid at least $15 per hour each, and each job usually takes between four and seven hours.
Pirtle said “Rent-a-Rower” has been a huge part of the club’s success since COVID-19, and it’s been an “effective way to get more people on the team.” The two driving forces of hiring rowers are that it allows the students to pay their dues with the money they gained from working in a quicker transaction, and allows the team and Greater Lansing supporters to become familiar with each other.
Vasquez included himself in the “Rent-a-Rower” donation program over a year ago but doesn’t pounce on every opportunity. He understands some students need to pay their dues more than he does. Some students have even paid their entire dues throughout the semester.
“I make sure there isn’t someone who needs it more than me. I try to be careful with how much I do it,” Vasquez said. “Tuition can already be a struggle for some kids, and they’re really invested in rowing and they don’t want to give it up.”
MSU fraternities are some of the club’s supporters. In the fall and spring of each school year, all the frats hold a fight night, Pirtile said, and the Greek life organizations hire the club to serve drinks. Pirtle and others wore “Fight Night” shirts and handed out alcoholic and nonalcoholic drinks. Some of her attention was on the frat brothers fighting each other and other attention was used to freshen drinks for an event that lasted hours, which ended up being Pirtle’s most memorable odd job as a rower.
A fight night is an uncommon way for the rowers to spend their weekend since most requests are more tame and controlled.
Junior starboard Campbell Kuhlman said it’s a great way to connect with the community and people near the club’s boathouse.
“They see us every day and have to deal with this,” Kuhlman, a constitutional democracy and comparative government major, said. “It’s nice to know who you’re rowing alongside.”
Rowers pay $750 and coxswains pay $500 per semester. Dues go towards the club’s three coaching staff, team operations, regatta fees, traveling, gas stipends, hotels, boat rentals and maintaining the boathouse, located on Main Street in Lansing, alongside Grand River. MSU crew pays for the electricity and the land, and during trips, dues cover all expenses excluding food.
The current boathouse is the third the club’s had in its 67 years. The other two burned down, including in 1993 when the club had to come up with $100,000 from the damages done. Support from the community led to the construction of its new boathouse. All that’s physically remained in the 67 years is a single rope they bring to each new boathouse. Pirtle, a marketing junior, said community involvement and relationships are why the club got its new boathouse.
“The community loves us. They’re the reason we’ve been able to get our third boathouse,” Pirtle said. “They helped us fundraise and pretty much build it and buy it.”
All of the requests the club gets, and approves of, are in Greater Lansing, and many come from the very neighbors they see every day at practice. Sophomore starboard Andrew Vasquez said being on the team is a good way to meet people and working with the donors enacts a community with them, building greater relationships.
Kuhlman has also been involved with the program for a year. He’s attended many odd jobs to pay for dues, learn more about the people in the nearby communities and pick up new skills.
He and the club rarely turn down requests, but will do so when it puts the rowers in danger. For example, Kuhlman and others were asked to carry a cast iron tub downstairs in a house but declined the offer. Jobs he’s completed include helping someone move, house-sitting, and his favorite, but most stressful, was working on a garden. Vasquez also worked on the same woman’s garden, who lives near the river and watches them practice, and said that every year the club re-mulches and organizes her garden so everything’s in order. Kuhlman said it was stressful because she’s “a very nice” lady and he wanted to “make sure everything looked good.” Vasquez enjoyed the project because he’s seen how her garden has evolved — plus, he ate fresh berries.
“The community is definitely the biggest part because it’s still a growing club, so we need connections,” Vasquez said. “You never know when we might be able to help them or when they might help us.”
Vasquez has shoveled snow, pet-sat and raked leaves, which resulted in the donor giving him and other rowers cash tips.
Crew members are allowed to pocket tips in cash. Usually, the more people who work on a project tend to give the biggest donations and tips. The community supports the local area and understands the students’ struggles with paying dues and tuition, which is why many renters donate excessive money after the project.
Pirtle, Vasquez and Kuhlman strive to continue supporting the Greater Lansing area with the club until they graduate. It’s become a two-way support system, opened gates to new connections and allowed the club to expand and stay afloat. The community has been the club’s rope — they’re constantly pushing the MSU club crew to grow.
“As much as the community wants us to be there and help, we will,” Kuhlman said. “It’s been a great way to build a family. We are reliant on community support, and it’s really nice to have them there for us because it helps us achieve more, keep pushing and keep growing.”