By Kristen Oliveri
Valentine’s Day came early for Northeastern students this year. Northeastern’s Black Engineering Student Society (BESS) held their first Winter Wonderland Dating Bid on the lower level of the Curry Student Center on Thursday, Feb. 12.
In an effort to raise money to send BESS members to the National Society of Black Engineer’s Annual Conference, the organization decided to create a fundraiser that would help with the cost and also become an annual event for BESS.
BESS is a student group started by two Northeastern students in 1984 to bring black engineering students closer together. The primary purpose of the group is to bring minority-engineering students together in order to enable them to share their knowledge and experiences, according to the BESS Web site.
“The idea of a dating bid worked out because many college students are also looking for someone to spend Valentine’s with,” said Kat Noel, public relations chair and chief organizer of the event. Noel, along with BESS secretary, Rosena Cornet, spent two months planning for the fundraiser.
The Winter Wonderland consisted of 11 males and 9 females who would go on a date the following night to whomever offered the highest bid. The participants were Northeastern, Boston University, and Wentworth students. BESS decorated the lower level of the student center to create a romantic setting. Each table was covered with a red tablecloth and sprinkled with heart-shaped decorations. Gilberto Osorio, the president of the Latino/a American Student Organization; Ifeanyi Agouji, president of BESS, Rosena Cornet, BESS secretary; Alex Diaz, WRBB Urban Director and public relations chair Kat Noel were all available to the highest bidder.
The bidding began promptly at 8 p.m., with 136 people in attendance and the audience was extremely receptive. The highest male bid of the night went to Osorio for $70. Osorio charmed the audience with a dramatic poetry reading entitled “Palpar” by Octavio Paz.
“This was hot,” said Luz Mederos, a freshman mathematics major. “I wish I brought more money to bid on Gilbie.”
The highest bid of the night went to Kat Noel for $101.25.
“The bidding went to a great cause. It was a fun event that allowed NU students to come together and try to have a happy Valentine’s Day. I was surprised at how high some of the bids became, but it definitely made the night more interesting,” said Caroline Tejeda, freshman psychology major.
The first Winter Wonderland has served as a stepping-stone for more events of its type to incorporate fundraising with student activities at Northeastern. BESS charged $3 to get in, and the bidding process began at $5. Many of the “biddees” of the night volunteered their services to better their student organization.
“We [BESS] decided to do it this way for many reasons. We wanted to take the pressure off of one-on-one dating. By having all the participants and their dates together it creates a more comfortable atmosphere,” Noel said.
“For our first time attempting to execute an event like this, it went pretty well. We hope that it gets better and better as the years go on,” Noel said.
