Paola Hegedus/Assistant Graphic Designer
It started out as a nice intimate date night for 150 people who entered Alpha Kappa Psi’s annual “Win a Date with a Pirate Athlete” fall event.
Junior soccer player Daniel Bartok said he had a great overall experience. When his captain, senior Mateusz Brela, asked him to participate, he said he would gladly volunteer for such a great cause.
Bartok and his date, junior Jamila De Pena, who did not know each other prior to the event, had a nice conversation. He said it was funny because her sister, who came out to support the cause, won his captain, Brela, and it turned into a sort of double date. He said he would volunteer to do it again next year.
Junior Allison Giosa, a date winner, had a similar experience with her date, junior cross country runner Ryan Flannery.
“I had an amazing time with my date and I got to meet a lot of other people too,” she said.
Alpha Kappa Psi held the event on Oct. 21 to raise awareness and money for their chapter’s philanthropy, Autism Speaks.
Junior members Selene Presseller and Amanda Speed helped organize the event, which is in its fifth consecutive year. They said they had hoped to top last year’s event, which they considered the best to date, and they succeeded, increasing total sales from last year, according to Presseller.
“Most importantly, we are pleased with how much money we were able to raise for Autism Speaks,” Presseller said.
Every attendee was given raffle tickets when they came in and were able to distribute them to jars to win a date or a prize.
There were 24 athletes from different sports teams participating while the prizes included a TV, a Pandang gift card and a SHU sweatshirt.
There were also performances by the Gentlemen of the Hall, the Sapphires and the Filipino League at Seton Hall (FLASH).
Presseller hoped to see “Win a Date” bring the SHU community together for a great time and a great cause.
“We really try to make the event a fun experience for everyone that attends by inviting as many different groups as possible to make everyone feel welcome and included,” Presseller said.
“Overall, I would say that the event went extremely well,” she said. “It seemed like the audience had a really good time and they were really involved in the event.”
Immediately following the event, Pandang hosted a catered meal for the dates.
Presseller mentioned that the winners of the raffles and their Pirate athlete dates sat in groups to alleviate the potential awkwardness that many students initially worry about.
Emily Balan can be reached at emily.balan@student.shu.edu.
