Over 180 people, including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, attended the annual dinner and auction to benefit the Seattle University men's basketball program, held Saturday, May 10, at the Triple Door Theatre in Downtown Seattle.
As of a day or two after the event, $69,500 was raised through a series of auction items, as both a silent auction and a live auction were held during the evening. Silent auction items included bottles of wine, tickets to Seattle Mariners and Seattle Seahawk games, tours of Fire Station 5, KIRO-TV, and KING-TV, hotel stays, dance classes, and other assorted gifts.
The live auction kicked off with a jersey and ball signed by Seattle University great Elgin Baylor and also featured tickets to the Seahawks and the new Seattle Sounders FC MLS team, dinner with Spencer Hawes of the Sacramento Kings, a trip to the 2009 NCAA Division I Final Four in Detroit, chances to sit on the Seattle University bench during road games at the University of Portland and Portland State, several gift certificates to area restaurants, and trips to Palm Springs, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and Sun River.
The dinner and auction comes on the heels of the fundraising luncheon in late February that also benefited the men's basketball program as it begins the transition process to Division I. Similar events for other Seattle University sports are in the planning stages as the entire athletic department enters the reclassification stage of the move from Division II to Division I.