Washington State University nerd auction scheduled for Oct. 26

SPOKANE — The nerd auction is a go.

Members of the largest computer club at Washington State University have hooked up with six sororities, who will provide makeovers to seven nerds and then auction them to the general public.

The money will be used to provide scholarships for women in computer science, and the event will improve the image of computer geeks, organizer Ben Ford said.

"We are a computer club and as such, we've got a reputation for being the dude holed up in his basement lit up by the glow of his monitor," said Ford, 31, president of the Linux Users Group and a graduate student.

"That's not true at all," he said. "We're ordinary people; we've got other interests and love to have fun. We want to show that to everybody else."

When Ford's idea first came to public attention last week, he was deluged with media attention, and some criticism, for suggesting that computer science students needed makeovers from sorority girls. The name he chose — "Nerdy and the Greek" — was a play on the television show "Beauty and the Geek."

At first, the nerds had trouble finding a sorority willing to participate.

But the university jumped on board, turning the Oct. 26 auction into a fundraiser for a new "women in computer science" scholarship.

Women make up less than 5 percent of computer science students at WSU, reflecting national trends. The goal of the auction is to show that "computer science is fun and interesting and not just for nerdy boys," WSU said.

Under the plan, the school said seven "nerds" from the computer club will turn themselves over to women from six sororities, who will do complete makeovers on them, including things like haircuts, wardrobe, styling tips and other fashion improvements.

"The newly fashioned nerds will then be auctioned off to the general public for homework help, computer help, or a dinner date," the school said.

The makeovers will be filmed and shown at the auction.

The six sororities have so far declined to be named, claiming they need permission from their national chapters.

Reaction to the event has not been all positive. On the Linux Users Group website, some critics were scathing.

"You wonder why you need this much press to get a woman to come within 10 feet of your sorry selves?" wrote Anonymous2007. "This brings back every sexist or otherwise slimy incident I experienced studying engineering with a lot of nice people."

"This is offensively stereotypical and outrageously insensitive," wrote summima.

Ford, in a posting on the group's web site, said people are missing the humor of the situation.

"We certainly don't believe in these stereotypes," he wrote.

The suspicion that the auction is a bid to get nerds romance "couldn't be further from the truth," Ford wrote.

"Think about it. We are nerds," Ford wrote. "We know how to calculate return on investment. This event is costing us thousands of dollars to put on and I'm sorry, but I'm not willing to pay that kind of money to make six or eight dudes happy for a night."