Students packed the North End Zone of Bryant-Denny Stadium Wednesday night to attend the third annual Date Auction, sponsored by the Student Government Association and the UA chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers.
Twenty-five auctionees marketed themselves to a floor full of students who raised a total of about $10,500, whereas last year’s auction raised around $6,000, said Mark David Kennedy, SGA treasurer and one of the auctionees.
“I’m very happy with the results tonight,” he said. “I really wished we would have raised more money, but it is a significant increase from what we did last year.”
Seventy-five percent of the proceeds will go to the Endowment Fund for student scholarships, while the other 25 percent was awarded to students who attended the auction.
SGA President James Fowler was the master of ceremonies for the event. Along with the $5 entrance fee came a raffle ticket for each student who attended.
In between auctioning off dates-for-pay escorted to the bidding stage by a Chick-fil-A cow mascot, prizes such as gift cards to Chick-fil-A, Cold Stone Creamery and Moe’s Original Barbeque were raffled off to students.
Changes to this year’s auction included the raffle tickets, using crimson LED lighting and an increased number of auctionees, said auction director Garrett Dorris.
“The Date Auction went well the first year and then it slacked off the second year,” he said. “For this year, we took what happened last year and improved it a lot more.”
Several $500 scholarships were also awarded to students with lucky ticket numbers. Local businesses contributed to the funding for the scholarships.
“We phone blitzed all the different businesses around here to ask for donations for our raffle,” Dorris said.
The auction concluded with the awarding of three special prizes.
The first was a tour with Athletics Director Mal Moore through Bryant-Denny, the second was a one-on-one dinner with University President Robert Witt and the third was an iPad donated by the University Supply Store that would otherwise cost $830.
Cole Carter, a junior majoring in finance, said he paid to see the auction with the hope of finding a few laughs.
“I just came for a good joke,” he said. “I thought it might be funny and having the chance to win an iPad isn’t bad.”
Latasha Lewis, SGA director of outreach and a sophomore majoring in public relations, said she felt proud of the results of the auction.
“It’s a great cause and they’re raising a lot of money,” she said. “It makes me proud to be part of the SGA.”
Date Auction Bids:
Ashley Getwan
$1,005
Jesse Blount & Robert Rolfe
$1,000
Kelly Corr
$700
Meg McCrummen
$550
Victor Luckerson
$175
Grant Cochran
$300
Shellie Street
$250
Anna Foley
$500
Aaron Zucker
$375
Nancy Hogan
$175
Mark David Kennedy
$525
Teresa Croom
$275
James Fowler
$400
AJ McCarron
$500
