About 40 students will go on possibly the largest group date Penn State has ever seen.

The Multicultural Greek Council (MGC) raised $224 at its second annual Date Auction last night as part of the council's Theme Week. The roughly 20 students who were auctioned off and their dates will dine at Chili's Grill and Bar, 139 S. Allen St., as a group sometime next week.

Penn State does not allow students to be auctioned for individual dates, so the council uses the group date as an alternative, said Kei Wong, the MGC executive vice president.

"This year we want to promote actually going on the date," Wong said.

About 70 students gathered to raise money for the MGC to help defray costs of hosting Theme Week. The week typically costs the MGC close to $6,000, Wong (senior-pre-medicine and psychology) said.

The University Park Allocation Committee, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life and the Paul Robeson Cultural Center also provided funding.

"The whole point of Theme Week is to promote pride among ourselves and outside of the MGC," Wong said. "It's a great way to meet people in other organizations."

As each person being auctioned walked along the stage, personal facts were announced, such as their extracurricular activities, pet peeves, favorite quotes and ideal first dates.

Jennifer Nmagu of Alpha Nu Omega recieved the highest bit of $22.

The man who received the highest bid of $20 was Raj Pathak (senior-materials science and engineering), who informed the crowd that he had $100 in his pocket to spend on his date.

Other people who received high bids included Gina Esposito (senior-human development and family services), who sold for $20, and who said her ideal first date would be "getting tipsy and playing twister," and Lee Anne Torres (junior-bio-behavioral health), who sold for $21.

Most of the audience members belonged to organizations within the MGC and attended the event in order to support friends.

"I came because I'm one of the co-founders of the MGC and I try to come to all of the events," said David Chen (junior-accounting). "All of the sororities that came out have very beautiful women so we'll try to help them out," he added.

One of the men being auctioned, Pete Ishihara (senior-industrial engineering), said he was nervous and hoped to receive a bid of at least $12. This was Ishihara's second time participating in a date auction, and he said the MGC's event was different from his previous experience.

"It's not like other date auctions where you get auctioned off and don't do anything," he said.

MGC advisor Ivan Ceballos said the auction was back by popular demand because of its high level of success last year.

"It's a great opportunity for them to learn more about each other," he said.