Date auction benefits good cause

“Welcome to our house of flesh,” announced  the auctioneers of the Invisible Children Date Auction on Nov. 14.

This was the fourth annual auction to benefit the Invisible Children club where they sold dates with 28 students to the highest bidder. For the $3 entry fee attendees watched performances from Eagle Bhangra dancers, One Note Stand and Symphonic’s, followed by an unexpected male strip show.

“There was a lot of shirts and pants coming off. I think I saw the windows steaming up,” said senior Andrew Kada.

Many of the boys participated in the “helicopter” dance, swinging their shirts over their heads and flexing their muscles.

The show proved to be an effective technique for catching dates, as every guy was sold to the highest bidder for no less than $30.

Sophomore John Meister’s strategy was a little different from the other dancers.

“Basically [it’s about] just being unique as possible. The more wild you are the higher your bids go.”

Sporting a sweater featuring two dancing reindeer, Meister offered to give it to the highest bidder.

He and his sweater sold for $85.

Despite the light-hearted nature of the auction, profits from Sunday night’s auction benefit a serious cause. Invisible Children, a campus group dedicated to helping the children of Uganda, will receive all of the proceeds.

Specifically the club will donate the profits to improving Lacor Secondary School, a school in the middle of northern Uganda.

Auction organizers, sophomore Eve Patterson and junior Marianne Mannix, worked hard for three months planning the fundraiser.

It was so time consuming they had little time for anything else.

“Eat, sleep, date auction, oh shit I’ve got a paper due, guess I’m not sleeping tonight,” laughed Patterson.

They even visited various downtown merchants asking for donations.

After winning a date, participants got to select from a variety of dining institutions, such as Bangkok Café and Firehouse Pizza.

The auction raised $3,500 this year, which is considerably less than the previous year when they raised $6,000.

“We were hoping to make more than we did last year, but we are very pleased with our proceeds because this is the first year any of our current officers are officers,” said Mannix.

“Last year, all of our officers graduated and we are still trying to get the hang of everything.”