Members of the Student Union Executive Board, singers from several a capella groups and the players on the in-line hockey team, among others, will be looking for dates with padded wallets this Friday night, as Project 100 and Fearless plan to bring a date auction fundraiser to Jacob Sleeper Auditorium in the College of General Studies.
Several BU a capella groups are scheduled to perform, including the Dear Abbeys, Allegrettos, Terpsichore, Treblemakers and Bostoniensis. Some of the singers will then pull double-duty, entering in the auction themselves.
Elizabeth Churchill, president of Fearless, a suicide-prevention group on campus, said the groups will perform and then bring forward their volunteers for sale.
“We’re going to ask them their likes, dislikes and then we’re going to play a little music for them to strut around to,” Churchill said. “Then we’re going to start the bidding.”
Churchill said the decision to have Dear Abbeys auctioned off was an easy one.
“We definitely wanted to do the a capella groups since it’s usually a vast sea of screaming girls, especially with the Abbeys,” Churchill said.
After auction participants enter to theme music of their choice, audience members will bid on them. According to Churchill, the starting bid will be $5, with $1 bid increments. The dates will accompany the lucky bidders to a live music show Fearless and Project 100 will hold the following week, Churchill said.
Churchill said the evening between the date and his buyer would include no “hanky-panky.”
“If it’s your boyfriend/girlfriend who ends up buying you, that’s fine, but nobody’s paying to get laid,” Churchill said. “We want to make that line between prostitution and dating for charity clear.”
Churchill said other rules included no lewd comments during the auction period, and the use of alcohol before, during and after the date would be prohibited.
Frances Cosico, the Union vice president of academic affairs, said she would do the event becaus it is a novel idea and it serves a good cause.
“It’s for a good cause and it’s something that BU has never done before,” said Cosico, who said she plans to make “2 Legit 2 Quit” her theme music. “The Union was really never allowed to do it, but we worked things out for them to let us do it in a fashionable manner.”
Cosico said the event would be fun, but the prospect of hecklers made her nervous.
“I know it’s going to be humiliating, but it’s going to be a lot of fun at the same time,” Cosico said. “I’m kind of nervous about it; we get to be part of BU’s first date auction. How many people can say they’ve done that?”
Matthew Amore, a College of Communication junior and VP of academic affairs for the COM Student Assembly, said he found out about the auction during a COMSA meeting.
“[COM] senators announced they were doing this date auction at the COMSA meeting and it sounded cool,” Amore said. “I’ve done it before in high school, and it’s going for a good cause, so I figured, ‘Hey, why not?'”
Amore, who plans to enter to “Bootylicious,” “Give it to You” or “I’m Too Sexy,” said he plans to set a reasonable goal for himself.
“I raised $140 in HS. If I could do that again, that would be great, but I don’t like to think that highly of myself,” Amore said. “I think 30 bucks or over would be pretty good. College students don’t have that much money.”
Churchill said there were people being auctioned off who she thought could bring in the big bucks.
“I can see specific people going over $50 without a doubt,” Churchill said.
According to Churchill, the fundraiser will go to benefit the Samaritans, a suicide prevention group that has aided Fearless in past years. Tickets will be $3 and will go on sale at 6:30 p.m. The event will begin at 7:00 p.m.
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