Penn State students were "pimpin' all over the world" last night, as they were auctioned off as dates in support of the Penn State Relay For Life.

As the melody of the Ludacris single rattled the room, friends and family piled into 104 Thomas for a chance to bid on a dinner date with their favorites this Friday night at Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity, 328 E. Fairmount Ave .

Nineteen Penn State students and the Nittany Lion waited patiently against the back wall for their turn to be auctioned off.

Relay for Life held the date auction and successfully raised $886 for the American Cancer Society. Last year, the organization raised about $2,000, Entertainment Overall Shannon Kay said. However, this year the auction included fewer participants and lacked big-name stars such as Paul Posluszny.

Public Relations Overall Jessica Deppen (senior-journalism) said the organization has raised at least $22,000 toward this year's goal of $80,000 so far, not counting the date auction.

Some students came for their friends, some for their organizations, and some came to buy themselves a good Friday night.

"I'm all about finding a date," Ben Spanswick (freshman-information sciences technology) said, adding that he is "definitely a leg guy."

While other students such as Spanswick came with set criteria, others weren't sure what they were looking for.

"I've gotta scope the field," Jarrod Kazda (sophomore-industrial engineering) said. "See if anything catches my eye."

The highest bid was for Dana Trabucco (junior-marketing), who went for $125 to her boyfriend, Brad Fleeman, 19, of Lancaster. That total was even higher than the bid for the Nittany Lion.

Fleeman said he had to bid so much because a man in the back of the room raised Trabucco's bid to $110.

"Words can't describe how I'm feeling right now," Trabucco said after being auctioned off. "Thank God my boyfriend bought me and not some random dude."

Brittany Jennings (freshman-chemical engineering) and Maria Mazzocchi (freshman-bioengineering) said they were studying in a nearby room when they heard music and wandered over.

"We peeked through the window and saw two boys without shirts on," Jennings said.

The two boys were Brian Cantalupi (senior-mechanical engineering) and Jason Giner (junior-mining engineering) who wore only cowboy hats and ties above the belt.

"We thought, whoa, we're going in there," Mazzocchi added. "Then it gets better. They're engineers and we're both engineers," she said, giggling.

The Penn State Relay for Life will be April 14 and 15.