Daryl Ferrara, Lacey Sanchez, Yvonne Ibert, Glinda Whitaker, George Ibert, Kathy Pittman, Ricky Masaracchia and Julie Perise pose for the unveiling the of the prize-winner. Whitaker won the one-carat diamond, which was raffled off at the event. In addition to the chance to win a diamond, various plates of chocolate desserts and champagne were offered at the fundraising event.
The Lion’s Roar / Megan Simon

The Alumni Association added a fun twist to one of their fundraising events this summer. Champagne, Chocolate and Diamonds fundraiser made an appearance on campus for the first time, adding a touch of unique glamor to the money-raising occasion.

The fundraiser took place at the Alumni Center last Thursday, June 11 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. There was a limited amount of tickets sold for the event and cost 100 dollars per couple.

The diamonds were the event’s main theme. One of the attendees had chance of winning a free diamond by entering the raffle for it. Jewelry was also on display for interested buyers. Both the diamond and the jewelry were provided by a local store, George Ibert Jewelry and Gifts. There was also an assortment of chocolate desserts provided by various companies, champagne and an assortment of hors d’oeuvres. 

“One of my 50 year grads was visiting one day, and I said I’d like to do a fundraiser with something different,” said Kathy Pittman, director of the Alumni Association. “I said, do you have any ideas? He said give a diamond away. People love diamonds. Then, from there, I put a committee together and we started brainstorming and came up with the chocolates. We decided to do it a little bit different, give it a little flare instead of just the drawing.”

Pittman feels the fun spin of making the event fancy with the diamonds and formal dress code is what drew people into the event and is essentially what the people enjoyed that night.

“The people who came had a good time,” said Pittman. “I don’t know if it was just the glamor. We can’t thank George Ibert enough for what he did. He and his wife ordered some very unique and special pieces. For example, Miss Louisiana, Lacey Sanchez, had on over 40 carats worth of diamonds. That’s what you see at the runway or red carpet events. That was something very unique and we were excited to be a part of that. I think that excited everybody.”

The highlight of the event was when Glenda Whitaker won the event’s prized one-carat diamond. Whitaker is a graduate of Southeastern.

To add to the runway carpet theme, a handful of women, all either a Southeastern graduate or student, were adorned in various amounts of diamond jewelry and dresses to model for the attendees. Among these women were alumnae Katie Morse and Katie Campbell Krause, former Miss Southeastern Renee’ Picou, current Miss Southeastern Emily Randon and Sanchez.

Planning the event took two and a half months for the Alumni Association. Among the providers, Dillard’s donated dresses for the models and Godiva chocolates while Ibert, a Southeastern alumni, provided the displays of jewelry and the prized diamond. Other contributors to the event were K-Team Printing and Marketing, the Crescent Bar and Kappa Sigma Fraternity, who served at the event.

Money raised at the event will be used to for various programs that the usual funds cannot be contributed to, such as recruiting and scholarship money for students.

“The money is going to the Alumni Association to use for different programs,” said Pittman. “We support the university in a lot of different ways and to do things that they can’t actually do for themselves. We do recruitment; we help them with legislation issues. We help students with their programs and scholarships. All these things take money. That’s one of the reasons we thought with all the budget cuts that we needed this fundraiser. We wanted it to be fun and have people come and have a good time. We wanted them to see what Southeastern has to offer.”

According to Pittman, the event was successful, having been sold out the day of event. Since the night was so successful, Pittman believes there might be more Champagne, Chocolate and Diamonds fundraiser to come in the near future.

“We might be having another,” said Pittman. “We might be making it an annual event, but we have to sit down and see. Everybody seemed to have a good time, so I would think we will be doing this again.”

Alumnae Katie Morse and Katie Campbell Krause, former Miss Southeastern Renee Picou and current Miss Southeastern Emily Randon model jewelry provided by George Ibert Jewelry and Gifts at the fundraising event, Champagne, Chocolate and Diamonds.
The Lion’s Roar / Megan Simon