Going once! Going twice! Sold: A couple of fraternity guys for an evening out on the town.
The University chapter of Delta Sigma Phi will host a date auction at 7 p.m. today in 180 PLC to support the Oregon-based Start Making A Reader Today program. Admission is a suggested $2 donation.
Members of the fraternity will auction themselves off individually or in groups of up to four to the highest bidder.
“We want to provide entertainment … and have fun while doing a good cause,” said Justin Zuiker, a Delta Sigma Phi member who will be auctioned off. “The purpose of this is to have a wacky, fun time.”
Football Coach Mike Bellotti, a Delta Sigma Phi alumnus originally from the University of California at Davis, will host the event.
Fraternity members will perform skits and dance routines to entice bidders.
Dates include trips to the coast, skydiving, dinners in Eugene and Portland, horseback riding, bowling, ice skating, trips to the Portland Zoo and a Trail Blazer game. Fraternity members will cover the cost of the dates, and all auction proceeds will go to SMART.
SMART helps underprivileged children learn to read. The program’s cost for each student is $250. Currently, about 1,000 students are enrolled.
Delta Sigma Phi members have been volunteering to read to SMART students since 1997, but this is the first time in several years the group has held a date auction.
“The fun will be a byproduct,” Zuiker said. “The main focus will be to raise the money.”
The fraternity hopes to raise $6,000 for the SMART program.
“We realized how severely underfunded they were,” auction chairman James George said.
SMART Area Manager for Lane County Liz Degner said the program will appreciate whatever amount of money the fraternity raises.
“This is a great partnership,” Degner said. “We’re honored that they are doing this to help us out.”
Zuiker said the auction is open to all
University students and faculty.
“I don’t have a girlfriend, so I just hope somebody bids on me,” he said.
The International Student Association will also hold a date auction Friday, during its weekly 4 p.m. Coffee Hour in the EMU International Lounge.
Dances for ISA’s Feb. 14 Valentine’s Dance will be bought with canned food, which will be donated to FOOD for Lane County. The dance is free for all students.
Anyone is welcome to participate in the auction by either being auctioned or bidding.
“We thought it would be more beneficial … to support the community,” ISA intern Caitlin Shinn said.