The Ferguson Center Plaza became a dessert battlefield Wednesday afternoon, as campus leaders took pies to the face in the name of charity.

As a part of the Beat Auburn Beat Hunger food drive, Honors College Dean Shane Sharpe and SOURCE Director of Organizational Leadership Richard Cockrum “won” a competition among campus leaders to be pied in the face. Around 60 to 70 spectators were present for the sugary showdown as students Austen Parrish and Hallie Paul were armed with whipped cream pies to use on Cockrum and Sharpe.

However, Parrish and Paul were in for a surprise.

Cockrum and Sharpe coordinated a sneak attack on Paul and Parrish, who were pied also.

Paul, the president of the Honors College Assembly, said she knew Cockrum had something planned to get revenge, but she didn’t know what to expect.

“He did not do it on his own; he even got some of my friends to help,” she said.

Paul said she’s excited about the HCA working along with the BABH campaign, and she was glad to volunteer and help out with this event.

Sharpe said BABH is a great cause and said he’s proud of the students who are supporting it.

“The pie in the face was all in good fun,” he said.

Parrish, a sophomore majoring in economics, said he didn’t anticipate the sneak attack.

“I should have expected such a counter attack from a man so brilliant and intelligent,” he said. “[Sharpe’s] participation as a faculty member and as such a prestigious individual on campus really says a lot about his character.”

Sharpe and Cockrum garnered the most dollars Monday in a competition where students donated money in the buckets of the campus leaders they most wanted to see pied. The two raised almost $300 between them, while the event overall raised more than $500 for the West Alabama Food Bank. Other contestants included SGA President James Fowler and Vice Provost Mark Nelson.

Wahnee Sherman, director of the Community Service Center, said the event was a great way to engage students and increase involvement, both in the competition and the fundraiser in general.

“We didn’t have the pie in the face event last year, so this is the first year in a long time,” she said. “The competition is a good thing, and the reverse pie in the face was not planned.”

Charlotte Brown, a junior majoring in marketing and a staff member at the Community Service Center, said she, too, was shocked.

“I got surprised with shaving cream thrown at me from both sides,” she said.

The BABH campaign launched Oct. 11 and has incorporated campus organizations through various events. There are also places sectioned off, such as the third floor of the Ferguson Center, where organizations are making can formations.

The drive will continue until Nov. 22. Students, faculty and community members may drop cans off at red barrels located around campus and Tuscaloosa.