CREDIT: MELANIE ANDERSON
Fanshawe Student Union porter Kevin Bosworth replaces the base on one of the tables that was damaged in the Oasis Cafeteria during the filming of the Harlem Shake video on campus.

Fanshawe's Harlem Shake video came with school spirit and a $1,500 price tag.

Fanshawe College jumped on the shake-wagon earlier this month when approximately 500 students performed the Harlem Shake dance in the Oasis Cafeteria in the Student Centre.

The Harlem Shake originated in Harlem in 1981, but became popular in 2013 when American producer Baauer released the dubstep song "Harlem Shake" that went viral on YouTube. Since then, hundreds of outrageous videos have been created using that song.

Each of the 30-second videos starts the same way: one person dressed in a helmet or mask dances, usually in a public space, as bystanders are seemingly unaware of what is going on. When the beat in the song drops, a wild party explodes where many participants are wearing odd costumes and holding signs or other props.

Fanshawe's video was no different.

"They had bananas, they had big horses throwing around — it was wild, there was a guy with just an elephant thong on, lots of guys in pink bras," said Fanshawe Student Union operations manager John Young.

The event was organized by Fanshawe Broadcasting students through a Facebook page that now has nearly 2,000 members.

Many universities and colleges have been creating the videos to not only have an excuse for a dance party and get on YouTube, but also to show school spirit. Although there were not "thousands" of participants at the event, it was still the biggest single student attended event Fanshawe had this year.

Fanshawe Student Union President Zack Dodge said he was impressed with the school spirit demonstrated at the event. "Getting that many students in a room to focus their passion and pride is incredible, something that doesn't happen all the time," he said.

Though a Fanshawe Harlem Shake organizer posted on the Facebook group that "fanshawe's [sic] president personally (called) me to say how amazing the video looks and how well we rep Fanshawe," FSU President Dodge and Fanshawe College President Dr. Howard Rundle both confirmed they never made those comments.

This may have to do with the fact that Fanshawe's act of "Falcon Spirit" came with a $1,500 price tag.

"I got a call on Friday night from my contract custodial going, 'There are 13 tables broken and trashed and the place was a total mess ... lots of feathers, feathers everywhere,'" said FSU building manager Rodney Sutton, who supervises the maintenance staff in the Student Union buildings.

The damage was caused by students who were dancing and "shaking" atop the cafeteria tables and chairs.

"It was a neat event, the negative repercussions from my standpoint is the damage. There was some accidental damage and some wilful damage; I know in my heart there was wilful damage," said Young.

According to Young, a false start forced students to wait over 15 minutes for their moment of fame, causing some aggravation. "There was only a couple minutes that was mob mentality, and at that point, you don't spark that, you let them scream whatever and get it out. When we said, 'Cut,' and it was over, they dispersed quietly and left."

The screams, however, led to chants that weren't always friendly. The chants escalated from "Fanshawe" to "Riot" to "Fuck Western (University)."

"That was inappropriate ... I know that we don't support it, and out of all the different videos on YouTube, nobody else is taking pot shots at other schools," said Sutton.

Dodge pointed out that the choice to keep the chants in the video spurred controversial comments online. "Through the comments and feedback (on the YouTube page) it was clear to see more energy was focused on the UWO comments than the actual video itself." Ultimately the comments on the page were disabled. Dodge added that he saw the chants as more or less the competitive side of the videos coming out, demonstrating the friendly rivalry between Fanshawe and Western, and wasn't meant to be a bashing session.

Despite the damage and debate on the final video, Young said he is just glad the repercussions weren't even more serious. "There's a million health and safety problems, but I'm just thankful that nobody got injured."

The Student Union covered the $1,500 cost of the damages, and all of the tables have been restored.

Currently, the video has just over 45,000 views; view it online at tinyurl.com/FanshaweShake.