Auction gives students chance to date athletes
Athletes from Utah State University will be given to the highest bidders in an auction organized to raise money for a new Victory Bell. The auction will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the Taggart Student Center Sunburst Lounge.
The students with the winning bids at the Athletic Date Auction will be escorted Wednesday night by their athlete to an evening of dining and activities in the Sunburst Lounge with the other couples.
Athletic Vice President Jenn Putnam said the auction gives students a great chance to get to know the athletes they often watch but never meet because of the rigorous schedule the athletes have.
“I know there’s a lot of students who would like to date a student athlete,” Putnam said. “They’re good looking, they’re great people and have great talent, so why not give students the opportunity to have that.”
Even those who don’t plan on making any bids can still enjoy the auction. There will be free refreshments and a raffle held at the end of the night that will give one student a free date, Putnam said.
Among those who will be auctioned are Emmett White and Kevin Curtis from the football team, Erin Cartwright from the women’s volleyball team, Andreas Maderbacher from the track team, and Jessenia Abrego and Kelcy Wathen from the gymnastics team.
It will be an equal opportunity auction in order to give everyone a fair chance at a date, Putnam said, with 10 athletes from each gender.
“We would like to raise about a $1,000,” Putnam said. ” We know that’s a lot, but students are getting a lot out of the date.”
The Athletic Date Auction will be the first of many fundraisers organized to buy the new Victory Bell, which Putnam said is estimated to be about $15,000.
The tradition of the Victory Bell began in the early 1900s when it was placed in the tower of Old Main and rang in times of victory and importance, but was moved to the Spectrum once it was built and remained silent due to damage from the move and complaints of the noise it produced.
The bell now sits in silence on the north end of the Spectrum.
“We would like to get a new one we can use after games so we can still have the old one as an antique,” Putnam said.