By Oluwatomike Adeboyejo

The African Student Association hosted a date auction for domestic abuse victims.

The main purpose of the date auction was to act as a fundraiser to raise money for the African Student Association and the events they hold throughout the semester, said treasurer Umar Okunade.

“In the spirit of Women in Color month and because we were in contact with D.C. Safe, we decided to turn the event into a charity…event where part of our proceeds went towards the charity and we got a lot of members to donate feminine [hygiene] products,” Okunade, a junior mechanical engineering major, said.

Over 100 students attended the event March 11 at the Adele H. Stamp Student Union. Students from Howard University, Towson University, Prince George’s Community College and more participated in the date auction.

“We extended an open invitation to many students from different schools around the DMV,” said Bree Osei, a junior biomedical global health major.

The African Student Association aimed to make their event unique by asking students from different schools to participate in order to encourage students to donate. Dominique Davis, a sophomore political science major at Howard University, was auctioned for $200.

The event not only helped to aid the communities in the surrounding area, but also facilitated an environment where people from similar backgrounds could build relationships.

“Coming from a [predominately white institution] and not really seeing black people, this is nice for me,” said Titilope Awe, an electrical engineering major from Bucknell University.

The African Student Association agreed as an executive board not to disclose how much was made during the event, Okunade said. According to the African Student Association’s executive board, the event generated two bags worth of feminine hygiene products.

Featured Photo Credit: Courtesy of Tracy Hunter’s Flickr account.

Oluwatomike Adeboyejo is a junior journalism major and can be reached at tm.adeboyejo@gmail.com.