Alpha Kappa Psi Fraternity is hosting their yearly "Win a Date with a Pirate" fundraiser event at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 18th in the Main Lounge, according to the event's press release.
Derel Stroud, the fraternity's special events chair, said that a portion of the money raised will go towards Autism.
"We decided to donate the money to Autism because it is the philanthropy for our fraternity," Stroud said.
According to Stroud, last year they made close to $1,000 dollars and 20 percent of their proceeds went to charity.
"We think that we will probably match that same amount this year towards Autism, if not more," Stroud said.
Stroud said that the general idea of the event is a raffle.
"Students purchase tickets and place them into any of the date's boxes that they are interested in. The more tickets you purchase, the better your chances are in winning," Stroud said. "There will be a time when the dates get to mingle with their potentials in the crowd, and there is also the formal stage time that each date gets in order to help the audience get to know them."
According to Stroud, last year the fraternity had a great turnout.
"We hope it will be even better this year, as the date will be served a meal (provided by GDS), versus last year's Rita's date," Stroud said.
One of the sixteen gentlemen that were auctioned off was Andrew O' Leary.
"Even though I'm not in the fraternity, I was asked if I would like to participate. I decided to because I enjoy helping out others and this fundraiser is for a good cause," O' Leary said.
O' Leary explained that at the fundraiser, the DJ will play your music then the announcer will give a little bio about each date.
"I remember from last year that some people did a little dance routine and others mostly just waved to the crowd," O' Leary said.
According to O' Leary, the contestants and their dates stayed on campus for the actual date.
"The date consisted of a date eating Rita's ice cream but it was in the University Center. All of the contestants ate together with their dates," O' Leary said.
O' Leary plans on volunteering in "Win a Date with a Pirate" again this year.
"I am participating this year because last year I had a great time and the event is for a great cause," O' Leary said.
According to Stroud, some members of the men's basketball team, baseball team, swim, and cross country teams, as well as members from clubs and other organizations will be participating as well.
Kimberly Bolognini can be reached at kimberly.bolognini@student.shu.edu.
