In hopes to raise money for charity, the Graduate Student Association has been planning various events and projects such as the GSA Date Auction to help encourage graduate students to get involved.
All proceeds for the auction, which will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Oct. 16 at Cafe 210, 210 W. College Ave., will be donated to the Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children, said GSA Community Service Committee Chair Cherelle Douglas (graduate-law).
The goal of the auction is to be a fun night for graduate students to go out and win a date with another graduate student here at Penn State, according to the GSA website.
“Students will be auctioned off with dates from the community,” GSA Internal Vice President Robbie Fraleigh said.
Fraleigh (graduate-physics) said various businesses such as The Center for Performing Arts and 2000 Degrees will provide vouchers and tickets for the winners to use on their dates.
“The auction has gone well in the past, and there tends to be a big graduate and professional student turn out,” GSA President Wanika Fisher (graduate-law) said. “We are hopeful that we will raise more money and more students come.”
Along with the auction, GSA will host their annual gala at the end of the semester for graduate students to enjoy a social event of dinner and dancing.
“The gala is a formal event for students to come out, dress up and go to dinner,” Fraleigh said. “It’s a nice event, and all the proceeds go to charity, as well.”
Another dinner that GSA Human Diversity committee has talked about hosting tentatively in October is a dinner for all international graduate association's presidents.
“This will provide us an opportunity to connect and collaborate with international students,” GSA Human Diversity Committee Chair Ashwini Tiwari (graduate-educational leadership) said. “In addition to that, we are planning on inviting a speaker who would talk about disability.”
Another project being planned for the spring 2012 semester is a CAFE film series — a formerly long-running GSA event that shows independent and international films at no cost to the graduate community.
