Spring Break
Dates raise dollars for American Cancer Society at annual Kappa Psi date auction
Joshua Aromin
Issue date: 3/31/09 Section: News
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Kappa Psi, a fraternity for pharmacy majors, has donated all proceeds to the American Cancer Society in the past, and also participates in the society's Relay For Life, organizer Thomas Kaufmann said.
Sixth-year students Brian MacDonald and Jason Wittes hosted the event and 17 other brothers participated as dates raising anywhere from $10 to $201 each.
"We sort of parlay [the date auction] with our big efforts for the Relay For Life in the spring," MacDonald said, who also hosted the event last year. Kappa Psi takes the Relay For Life extremely seriously. It's kind of our big fundraiser for the year so we're driven to do whatever it takes to help raise funds for that."
Brothers were called one at a time to step in front of the auditorium while music and picture slides played as a short biography was read. Some used different gimmicks to attract higher bids. "They come up and do everything from just walk up and stand there to dance, to just kind of schmooze with the crowd," Kaufmann said.
Third year students, Peter Stern and Ben Weinstein participated as a two-person date acting as Star Wars characters Hans Solo and Chewbacca respectively. "Who would want to be the meat in their intergalactic sandwich," MacDonald asked the crowd.
Student Thomas Bertha included a handmade keytar in his allotted time slot. One date initially wore a plaid shirt with a necktie, but then emerged wearing a Superman costume.
Junior Alex Baratz, from New Jersey, also used a gimmick for his time in front of the auditorium, raising $92. "I just did a random joke about Jersey Guido guys," he said. "I thought [raising $92] was really special actually. I didn't expect to make nearly that much because my freshmen year I made $20."
Kappa Psi president Andrew Bundeff, who was introduced with the Spice Girls song "Wannabe," was the final date up for bidding and also set a new Kappa Psi record for highest bid at $201, made by a group of 10.
Kappa Psi participates in other events during the year, but the date auction is their primary event for raising money. "We do volunteer for the Special Olympics and we are very involved in the community," Wittes said. "But this is probably the biggest, most money we bring in for donation."
Originally, the auction was scheduled for before spring break in the Memorial Union Ballroom. "[This turnout] is actually a little less than what we usually get because the snow delay kind of set us back, but it's been awesome," Bundeff said. "Every year we come out and from this auction we get anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000."
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