Students “Press it!” for charity
Students battled each other while avoiding the “Whammy” for a chance at winning valuable prizes like a $800 videocassette recorder, a Windjammer sailboat and an African safari.
Phi Kappa Tau social fraternity hosted its second annual Press Your Luck for Charity event Thursday in Warriner Hall’s Plachta Auditorium.
A live rendition of TV’s “Press Your Luck” highlighted the event, complete with theme music, cheesy prizes and a real-life “Whammy” crew.
Fraternity vice president and Saint Clair Shores senior Sean T. Johnston hosted the show.
“Hopefully we can continue to make it a yearly event,” he said. “We are really happy that both the office of Student Life and the community were able to help us raise money for such a worthy cause.”
About 100 attended the event supporting Operation Homefront, an organization that supports deployed troops by helping the families they leave behind.
Johnston said he did not know how much money the event brought in, but he expects good numbers.
“It will be pretty sizable, I can imagine,” he said.
Nine students were called from the crowd to play in three games of Press Your Luck for charity and a fourth championship game. The game played almost exactly like the TV show, but trivia questions were altered for humor and tailored to CMU students.
One question asked about the official currency of Japan. The choices were “The yen,” “The Deutschmark” and “The Turkish lira.”
Based on their performances in the trivia portion, contestants were awarded a certain amount of “spins” on the gameboard.
A spin can earn players cash, prizes or the dreaded Whammy, which steals the players’ money. The contestant with the most cash and prizes at the end wins the game.
When contestants stop on Whammy, they were taunted by three true-to-life Whammys, led by self-proclaimed “King Whammy” Ryan King.
The Lake Odessa junior and Phi Kappa Tau brother said he was grandfathered into the prestigious role through his performance last year. King said he was proud to be a part of the event.
“It’s excellent to give back to the community,” he said.
The contestant who avoided King and his fellow Whammys was Bay City freshman Robert Klenk.
He said he watches “Press Your Luck” regularly on Game Show Network, but still enjoyed Phi Kappa Tau’s rendition.
Johnston’s energy and humor kept the audience cheering for contestants to “Press it!” or “Pass!” – the sole strategic moves of the game.
He said he was pleased with the success of the event, but next year hopes to see a larger audience.
