by Delaney Letts
Colorado Mesa University’s Psychology Club held a silent auction this past week. The sale occupied the first-floor lobby of Houston Hall from Feb. 6-9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. About 65 items were auctioned off throughout these given days.
The majority of items were donated by local businesses and restaurants. Some student donations were made including student artwork and outdoor equipment rentals.
The silent auction offered a variety of gifts. Some items included the physical gift to examine, while others were only described and pictured on their bidding paper. To name a few, students and faculty bid on pottery, tapestries, baked goods, gift cards/certificates to different places in town (from a Mexican restaurant to dog grooming services), games (including Monopoly and Puzzles), knitted wear, grill sets, a Bob Marley record album and a Colorado flag.
The most expensive item offered was a $100 gift certificate to a local tattoo shop and also a $100 outdoor equipment rental certificate to the Outdoor Program (OP). According to several members of the club, their most popular item was the Batman package.
The Psychology Club hosted the silent auction as a fundraiser for their big conference, the Rocky Mountain Psychology Association (RMPA) that’s coming up soon. Last year the conference was held in Denver, but this year the group will be traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah.
Several students will be presenting research they have conducted in different areas of psychology (including social and forensic psychology). So far, 10 CMU students will be attending the conference. However, more than likely, others will sign up to go for simply the networking and experience of working with licensed researchers.
As part of the Psychology Club, senior Clay McCombe said, “It’s really cool to see people supporting the field of psychology even if they don’t know what we’re about, such as the Clay Club donating a bunch of pottery pieces and the OP graciously giving out free rental equipment.”
Another club member Theo Cristan said, “This is one of the biggest years we’ve had because so many local businesses contributed to the cause. There’s a lot more than just artwork like we’ve had in the past.”
The auction had the best turnout on their final day, filling up the majority of bid sheets. For the silent auction next year, Cristan, hopes to open up an online version of the auction, potentially. “It would be really cool if we could get the whole community to participate too,” Cristan said.
