PULLMAN – Tickets for the Nerdy and the Greek “Nerd Auction” hosted by the Linux Users Group (LUG) at WSU are now on sale. The event will take place Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. at the Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories Banquet Hall in Pullman.
For the Nerd Auction, six members from the LUG will hand themselves over to the women from several WSU sororities for complete makeovers, including haircuts, new clothes and dance lessons. The “nerds” will then be auctioned off to the general public for homework help, computer help, or a dinner date. The makeovers will be filmed for behind-the-scenes clips and shown over dinner with the auction following immediately afterward.
Proceeds from the dinner and auction will be used to establish an endowment for a “Women in Computer Science” scholarship that would fund one or more women to attend the WSU School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. A portion of the proceeds will also fund the philanthropic interests of each sorority involved.
Enrollment figures for women in computer science at WSU are less than five percent, and while the group is not expecting a sudden spike in those figures due to their efforts, they are hoping that the visibility and the image that computer science is fun and interesting—and not just for nerdy guys—will draw more women into computer science careers.
Tickets can be purchased by visiting https://www.nerdyandthegreek.com. Prices vary from $30 for WSU students, $100 for preferred guests and $500 for those wishing to be benefactors. Some purchases may qualify as tax deductible gifts.
