The Leadership Mentors organization hosted their third annual NKU Bachelor event Wednesday night where three lucky ladies were able to claim a date for Valentine’s Day. This year, bachelorettes were able to compete for a date with Homecoming King Ron Burse, SGA President Erik Pederson and Ernest “Stretch” Watson from the Norse basketball team.
Set up like a TV dating show, the bachelors and bachelorettes were separated by a wall. Judges were the first to ask the bachelorettes questions, followed by a volley of questions and responses from both the single men and women.
“I’m really glad that today’s day and age we can find Google and just Google funny first date questions,” said bachelor contestant Burse.
Watson added another level of humor to the night by asking the bachelorettes, “If you were a baseball player and you were up to bat, which base would you reach?” Following an uproar of laughter from the contestants as well as the audience of about sixty, one bachelorette exclaimed, “foul ball.”
After a number of questions, some serious and others slightly scandalous, and three elimination rounds, the bachelors were united with their dates. Burse chose Martha Stabb, Pederson chose Melanie Bullock, who was impersonating the Fat Amy character from recent movie “Pitch Perfect” and Watson chose Victoria House of the NKU dance team.
“I really loved listening to the hysterical answers the bachelorettes provided,” said Stacey Grippa, a communication major and one of the three judges for the night. “It was just an added bonus to help three great guys find the dates they deserve.”
This year’s bachelorettes were nominated by either their friends or by the Leadership Mentors, while all three bachelors were volunteers. Because of their willingness to participate, Burse, Pederson and Watson all received $25 gift cards.
Leadership Mentors has seen success with this event in the past, but this year brought a new aspect to the night with the incorporation of athletics.
“We have never had any athletes in the game before, so it was a lot of fun to have Stretch [Watson] out there and also Chad Jackson as a judge,” said Alyssa Woltermann, fundraising and social chair of Leadership Mentors. “Getting the athletes involved is something we don’t do with student life stuff so it was really good to have athletes involved as well as student life groups.”
The show, being the second biggest Bachelor event for Leadership Mentors, proved to be a night of laughter, romance and charitable acts where all proceeds for the night went to the Brighton Center.
“I think the event went well,” said Burse. “I think the Leadership Mentors put on a really nice event and it was something really fun to do for Valentine’s Day.”