Those not already planning to go on a date Friday night had the opportunity to take a shot at buying one.
A predominantly Asian-American crowd of hopeful men and women sat for two hours at Houston Hall's Hall of Flags in anticipation of winning a date in exchange for cash at the third annual Charity Auction and Dating Game.
This event was sponsored by the Asian Student Union, an umbrella organization that seeks to unify different Asian ethnicities.
The first half-hour consisted of a game called "The Bachelorette," in which three contestants competed for a mysterious bachelorette, or in this case, College junior Amy Park. Each guy was asked to respond to various questions that ranged from "Which male would you like to most spoon with?" to the less demanding "How would you act if the girl you were dating was a freshman in high school?"
Many of the responses that the contestants gave were often incoherent and inaudible due to poor sound quality.
However, one event that did not require acute listening ability was when the guys were each asked to do an impersonation of William Hung, the recent American Idol contestant turned pop culture hero made infamous for his take on Ricky Martin's She Bangs.
Eventually, after answering numerous questions including which porn star name he would take on Wharton junior Oliver King snagged the bachelorette through his charm and hip hop rendition of Hung.
"Some of [the questions] were kind of awkward, but I just did my best with the questions that were given to me.I tried to provide the most amount of entertainment without being too crazy," King said.
The auction was split into two segments, with the first starting an hour and a half into the show. College junior Yin Yin danced her way onto the stage to the beat of Britney Spears' I'm A Slave 4 U, hoping to lure a potential suitor, but in the end, the bid for Yin ended at $40.
The crowd of approximately 60 students remained relatively unstirred by the first round of bidding, as many seemed to enjoy being spectators rather than bidders.
During intermission, Freaks of the Beat Penn's breakdancing crew put on a crowd-pleasing performance.
Their hip hop act was followed by the second part of the auction, where Wharton sophomore Marissa Chai earned $200, the highest bid of the night.In a surprising twist, Engineering sophomore David Cheong attracted the final bid of a male bidder with his wit and antics.
Aside from snagging a date with the girl or guy of their choice, winning bidders also received gift certificates ranging in denomination from $25 to $100 from various sponsors, such as restaurants Devon's Seafood, Astral Plane and Bubble House. College freshman Yin Yin Wu was pleased with the event's turnout, saying, "I think it's for a really good cause. We raised a lot of money, and I think it's a lot of fun for a lot of people and it brings a lot of people together in the Asian community."
All proceeds raised from the event will go to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
Engineering senior Barry Chan noted how the event plays into one of the core objectives of ASU's mission. The date auction "definitely raises awareness for Big Brothers and Big Sisters," he said. "It also raises awareness in the Asian-American community ... especially with a lot of the actions that go on with Asians in Philadelphia."
