On Thursday night, members of the House of Churchill gathered in the Student Union to auction themselves off for profit, and it didn’t completely flop.

The Churchill Auction is an old tradition that hasn’t happened in three or four years according to Churchill Helmsman Miles Sinagra.

“We wanted to bring this back to test the student body’s reaction to it,” Sinagra said. “If this doesn’t work we may just need to find a new way to fundraise.”

Walking into the Student Union, a stack of brochures sat on the front desk. Inside of the brochure was a list of Churchill house members and the activities they would be auctioned off for.

Some of the most popular listings were James and Peter Gocke, being auctioned off for “Christmas caroling,” and Colin Phillips being auctioned off for “Being pied in the face and cooking the buyer pancakes.”

Phillips went for the highest price of the night, his pieing and pancake making skills being purchased for a whopping $26.

House members prepare for the auction held on Thursday night. I I Photo credit to Meg Capone

At a Churchill house meeting earlier this month, Sinagra gave the boys a list of auction ideas, but most of them decided to come up with their own.

Patrick Callahan, a Churchill who helped Sinagra plan the event, said that they did have to tone down some of the boys’ original ideas.

“A lot of them put down some crazy stuff that had to be deleted or changed. It was really up to the discretion of the Exec team,” Callahan said.

At 5 p.m., besides roughly 11 Churchill house members, only three students had arrived. Sinagra nervously sipped on his cup of soda.

“I probably should have planned this event for another day earlier in the semester,” Sinagra said, “with progressive dinner, the basketball game and play all happening this evening, I’m not anticipating many people.”

Sinagra wasn’t the only Churchill who feared few would show up. James Gocke, another Churchill sophomore agreed that he was unsure of the turnout.

By the end of the night, quite a few people showed up. 24 non-Churchill students made it to the Auction, and the house was able to raise a total of $215 from the event.

All profits from the auction will go towards the Churchill Spring retreat next semester.

According to Sinagra, the house is lacking in funds this year, as not many were rolled over from last year’s Exec team.

Kayleigh Burrell, a Truth sophomore who was the highest bidder on Churchill freshman Luke Gainey, said after winning Gainey for $18, “I told myself I wouldn’t spend more than $10, but here I am $18 later.”

Senior Hank Jeannel auctions off his fellow Churchill Luke Gainey. I I Photo credit to Meg Capone

Burrell said she had been pressured by a friend to outbid others. In the heat of the moment, Burrell spent just shy of $20 to have her dishes done by Gainey. She said that while she knew this was an outrageous price to pay, she wanted to support the house.

Overall, the event’s expectations were exceeded, and an event that cost nothing for the house to put on brought in some much needed cash.

After a night full of questionable moments, including the auctioning off of Colton Gotwals who dressed up as the pope, Peter Gocke remarked on the evening: “Yeah, it’s cringy, but it’s fun. It’s who we are! It’s a ‘Churchill cringy!’”

The Return of the Churchill Auction