By Lauren Ring
This year’s Hotchelor, held on Feb. 24, raised money for Togo and South Asia global outreach (GO) trips.
If you attended the event you might have noticed some drastic changes were made to the game. Rumors of the event being canceled had spread like wildfire.
According to the resident director of Hotchkiss, Julie DeVore, “Some changes had to be made [from previous years].”
In the past, groups of three to six men, from Hotchkiss only, were bid on during the event. Girls would pile their money together with their friends to buy someone a date, or single individuals would bid themselves. Hotchkiss men, in their best suit/attire, would hold a rose awaiting the highest bidder to claim them.
After the Hotchelor ended, each ‘Hotchelor Man’ took their highest bidder on a group date according to the date they presented in the beginning of the event. Date offers in groups ranged from bowling and In-n-Out to boba and mini golf.
“It started the year 2014-15,” DeVore explained. “The guys used to come up to the men’s RD’s apartment every Thursday for French toast and they would watch The Bachelor, and then they were like ‘Oh my Gosh! We should try this!’”
“There were a couple of years it didn’t happen [COVID],” DeVore said. “When I was a student my friends bought me a date in the Hotchelor, so when I became an RD, I said, ‘We gotta keep this going!’”
“However, there are always some things behind the scenes [problems] that aren’t always known to the public eye.”
“It was mainly guys not taking their girls on dates [that] was the biggest problem and them not following through on their word. And, that was something we found out had been going on for a couple years,” DeVore said.
“So, last year we said, ‘Okay, this is gonna have to be it.’ It just felt that we couldn’t keep this up.’”
DeVore explained that they were deciding to plan a new event and scratch the Hotchelor.
“We had one ready to go, but the deans and Harry [Walls] were talking about the new event. They said ‘the Hotchelor has so much momentum, why don’t you guys tweak some of the rules to help fix the problems that were happening?’”
“I was so excited. So I talked to Reagan and the RAs and they were pumped.” The conversations to rewrite the beloved Hotchelor happened on Feb. 12-13, almost ten days before the Hotchelor’s new debut date.
“I think it builds natural momentum because the word on the street was ‘the Hotchelor is gone’ and we went with it. Because it genuinely was gone. For marketing it was like, ‘JK I’m back!’” DeVorelaughed.
DeVore had to hurry in the planning area. In order for events to be finalized (chair setups, flyers, social media, etc.), there had to be a couple meetings and an approval process. Luckily, she was able to do it fairly quickly so the event could happen in a timely fashion.
“One of the major tweaks is that you won’t actually know what guy you’re bidding on until you win the bid…You’ll now see the 10 or so guys that are gonna be in the Hotchelor [posted on social media] so that the girls know they are solid guys.
“The MC’s at the event will be talking about the activities [and] the date…They will always be in double or triple dates.” The date will come out after the highest bidder wins.”
DeVore smiled, “I think it’s going to be more hype [than previous years].” And, her prediction for the amount spent this year was that it would “average out.”
But here’s another problem it would solve: some guys would sell for $200 and some would sell for $20 and they take it personally. This solves that. Because the girls aren’t bidding for a specific guy, they’re bidding for the date as a whole.”
Additionally, DeVore revealed that “some people would even read into it as ‘Do they like me?’ or ‘Did they bid on me because it’s the Hotchelor?’”
“It’s a joke. It’s a fundraiser for missions. But, people can get weirded out because they think they [the bidders] want something more or that they liked them [the biddee].”
“[With these rules in place] the girls won’t be overthinking like ‘Oh does he think I’m weird?’ because you don’t know who you’re gonna get.”
To help with the problem and discussions of Hotchelor candidates “backing out.” DeVore mentioned that there will be some sort of “follow up” according to previous paperwork they will need to sign.
The men this year will also be chosen differently. “Staff goes through and reports reputable men in the dorm that have good character and are trustworthy…Then the guys get asked. They have the option to agree or disagree.”
Men are welcomed to volunteer for the event, but they will be approved or denied upon submission.
“We take it very seriously, because at the end of the day, a girl is gonna go out with this guy and in good conscience, I don’t agree with sending a girl out with someone I don’t trust.”
“There is actually a ton of thought that goes into behind the scenes. On the outside, it probably looks like a super fun event, but Raegan and I do think very conscientiously about it”
Student’s have begun to have varying opinions of the Hotchelor as a whole. Some believe it objectifies men while others believe it is just a sad excuse for women to buy themselves a date.
“This is not dating. It’s an event that raises money for missions.”
“I mean if a relationship comes out of it, great! We put good guys in the Hotchelor for that reason. But I don’t want people to participate in the Hotchelor as a way of dating. I want them to participate in it because they think it would be a fun experience and it raises money for missions.”
“Overall, I’m just excited we get to keep the event going…It’s fun to take a tradition and reconsider, reevaluate and think about how we can make this better and not do what we’ve always done.
“I love Hotchkiss tradition,” DeVore said. “I love that it’s a campus-wide bonding event. It’s the talk of the school and I love that everyone wants to be a part of it!”
The TMU Mane 