Man Auction

By Will Lyons Staff Writer lyons14@up.edu

Women rarely have the opportunity to collectively swoon now that the Beatles don't tour anymore, but the 16 acts in Villa Maria Hall's "Man Auction," would have left even Ringo Starr impressed. UP students packed The Bauccio Commons Nov. 18 to watch the men of Villa sing and dance for Holy Cross charities.

Freshman Chris Blaydon participated in his first Man Auction this year, performing the *NSYNC song "It's Gonna Be Me," with a group of four other Villans in the act "Lazy Sunday."

"Being a part of a tradition and raising so much money was great," Blaydon said.

Each performance in the "Man Auction" is paired with a date, planned out and eventually paid for by the men in each act. The audience members bid on the dates, raising money for charity. This year, the auction raised $20,000 dollars for Holy Cross charities after an anonymous donor matched the $10,000 raised by the student performances, making this year's auction the most successful in history.

Freshman Chelsea Shannon and a group of seven other girls bought Lazy Sunday's date for $500: a hike to Angel's Rest along the Columbia River gorge and dinner at Montage.

"We bought Lazy Sunday because they used an *NSYNC song and their turn-ons included Justin Bieber," Shannon said. "The whole experience was very similar to shopping with the catalogue of acts."

According to assistant director for leadership in the Moreau Center and one of the auction's original inventors Pat Ell, this year's was the 16th Man Auction.

In 1995, as Villa Maria's hall director, Ell was given the challenge of raising more money than all of UP's dorms combined for an Oxfam penny drive. Ell, along with students and RAs, planned the new fundraiser.

"A student at the time, Wael Faltouh, said we should sell men," Ell said. "If we could get people to come to a show, they would bid on a date the guys would pay for."

According to Ell, the first Man Auction was held in the hall lobby and raised $2,000.

"So many girls came that we had to kick the Villa guys out," Ell said.

After the Man Auction's initial success, it became a tradition, and was moved to The Commons the next year.

Ell hopes the auction's message goes beyond collecting donations.

"I hope it encourages some people to go to Uganda and see what Holy Cross charities are actually doing," Ell said.

This year, so many residents from Villa participated in the auction that the dorm was closed down while it took place because all of the hall receptionists were working on the show.

According to ASUP president and Villa resident Zach Imfeld (who has participated in four Man Auctions), the event took the entire hall working together.

"Everybody drops what they're doing for charity," Imfeld said. "Besides, when else are you going to get to perform for a couple hundred women at once?"

Villa's pastoral resident Fr. Charlie McCoy, C.S.C., echoes Imfeld's focus on charity.

"Man Auction is one of my favorite days of the year," McCoy said. "It's this amazing shared effort that ultimately is for charity and literally connects us to the world."

McCoy also participated in the Man Auction along with four other Holy Cross priests, all five singing the Beatles, "With a Little Help From My Friends."

McCoy's date was the highest selling item at the auction, raising $3,125 for 21 students to have dinner at University President Fr. Bill Beauchamps's house along with other Holy Cross Priests.

Junior Julia Balistreri purchased the dinner.

"I'm chill with Fr. B, he's a witty genius," Balistreri said. "Man Auction's a great way to help out."

A couple of groups performed original songs for the auction. "The James Lange Theory," released a new song, "First," to the throng of women assembled.

"It's rewarding to have feedback about your own work," sophomore James Lange said. "Man Auction is all about doing what you love with your friends."

Sophomore performer and Lange's band mate Michael Sather put the whole night in perspective.

"The Man Auction is the summation of what it means to be a Villan," Sather said. "You do the wild stuff, but it's all for a purpose: craziness with a conscious."