Bidding on Manchester memories
Alumni families, emeriti faculty and staff, an entire class and a soccer team unite for auction

Manchester College marketing items, including these banners and T-shirts, were popular items at the April 13 auction in the upper floors of the Administration Building. Related links: The auction by the numbers More about the auction More pictures from this article:

Students in Advanced Public Relations pose with their clients at a post-auction discussion and celebration of their good work.

FACULTY AND CLASSES vacated the Administration Building last summer for the more comfortable, accessible and climate-controlled digs of the new Academic Center. Left behind were academic furnishings long past their prime – two entire floors of the tools of teaching. New furniture came with the new learning center.

“An auction seemed to be the perfect solution,” said Chris Garber ’77, associate vice president of financial affairs and director of operations. “That way our alumni could collect some memories, other schools and churches could benefit, and we would not have to dispose of hundreds of items.”

The goal: Everything goes.

And it went – in an exhausting eight-hour auction that drew hundreds of alumni and their families, antique dealers, bargainhunters, church and school representatives, and scrap dealers. When the day was done, the April 13 auction had drawn 214 bidders from 49 Indiana communities and seven other states. The auction grossed more than double the expected cash for MU’s budget.

Expenses were kept to a minimum by employing MU resources, both physical and academic muscle. The physical – moving everything into the top two floors of the Ad. Building, plus hauling over electronics, furniture and items stored elsewhere on campus – was led by MU setups supervisor Scott Eberly and his crew. Members of the MU men’s soccer team hauled items out for tips and also provided an auction concession stand to raise funds for a service trip to Jamaica.

The auction became a successful teaching moment for the COMM 335 Advanced Public Relations class of Professor Mary Plunkett ’83 Lahman. The class took on MU as its client, working with Garber, PR Director Jeri Kornegay and Auctioneer Larry Miller to promote the auction. Many had not witnessed an auction before. Students in Case Studies in Business class and Circle K club helped on auction day.

“I have helped make an auction a success,” said Kayla Sollars ’14, a communication studies major from Fairmont, Ind. “I helped write 50+ Tweets, hang fliers and direct traffic. I was a ringman, and had to pay close attention to bidders to be successful at that. I met a lot of alumni, and was able to represent the Public Relations class in a positive way. It was a long day, but I had a blast working it.”

“The auction was great fun,” said Leslie Pettit ’79, who served 18 years in Manchester’s alumni, development, printing services and ITS offices. “I’m glad I got to be part of this historic event. There were lots of former classmates and co-workers to catch up with and old memories of classes in the upper Ad. Building – and those GREAT, squeaky wooden floors!

“I managed to get a couple boxes of black T-shirts and gold T-shirts, and hope to make quilts out of them.”

The Auction by the numbers

Goal: at least $10,000
Result: $22,775

Goal: Tell alumni, antique dealers and buyers, schools, churches and auction-goers
Result: 214 bidders from 49 Indiana communities and seven other states

Goal: Remove all furniture
Result: Everything is gone – scores of chairs, desks, maps, computers,
T-shirts, wastebaskets, sofas, even the blackboards off the walls