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Eight first-year Leeds MBA students, six months, zero dollars in the budget, and countless hours of working closely with the administrators at Leeds, after classes and on weekends, all to host one of Boulder’s most exciting events of the year: The Barney Ford Silent Auction 2019. This year’s $30,000 record-breaking event at the  can be attributed to the almost 200 patrons, over 100 donated items, and crucial sponsorships from a wide range of individuals and businesses.

For the curious ones, every year, a group of first-year MBA students organize and host this silent auction fundraising event for an MBA student diversity scholarship. This year’s team included eight stellar students: Gibson Hoyt (President), Ashton Collins (VP of Event Planning), KJ Jungne (VP of Donations), Evan Peleaux (VP of Donations), Robin Pope (VP of Special Projects), Walker Boswell (VP of Sponsorships), Lindsay Randall (VP of Volunteer Coordination), and Chrysanthia Cheung-Lau (VP of Marketing)

On April 12^th, the Arts Center’s doors finally opened at 6:00 PM after the team made their final touches ensuring the check-in tables, food, beverages, and auction items were in the right spots. However, the crowd didn’t reach its full capacity until 45 minutes into the event when attendees rushed to win the bidding wars for their items of interest. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members all mingled happily throughout the night while bidding, wining and dining on catered food from  and beer from . We also cannot forget to mention the 250+ freshly baked cookies and keg of freshly brewed root beer donated from  along with tasty dishes from , , , and 

After everyone was content with food and drinks, the silent auction heated up between individuals competing for items such as vouchers for a month of yoga classes at . With a fair market value of $160, community supporter, Angela Hansen, snagged this amazing deal at $60, outbidding student Nicole Jozwiak by $5. Fortunately, there were plenty of other options for Nicole to win, including a month-long climbing membership for $56, originally an $88 fair market value. These two ladies were both good sports, shook hands at the end, and both went home as winners.

The highlight of the night was the live auction portion of the evening with John Helmers, the Associate Director of the Graduate Career Management, taking the reins as the official emcee once again. During these thirty exhilarating minutes, second-year MBA student, Ethan Lake, won the “Wob-B-Q” (A BBQ meal at Professor Rich Wobbekind’s house for ten) with a winning bid of $1,000, while the highest bidding item of the night, a 4-night stay in Breckenridge, went to first-year MBA student, Kimberly Cowan, for $2,500! We hope all these students, along with everyone else who attended had a wonderful time, and we hope to see everyone again next year for another epic, record-breaking night!

Also, check out the Leeders of Tomorrow Instagram page for more on diversity efforts and general happenings at the Leeds School of Business.