The Baker University Scholarship Gala and Auction took place Saturday, March 2, at the Sheraton Hotel in Overland Park. More than $300,000 in funding was raised at the event, which was the highest dollar amount collected in the Gala’s history.

“The silent auction was a runaway success,” Chris Smith, assistant director of marketing and communications, said. “Our advancement team really worked hard to find some new items that we hadn’t had before. There were trips, a lot of sports memorabilia, some consignment stuff and that was a great success to allow people to get together and socialize.”

The evening started off with a reception at 6 p.m., which lasted until dinner was served at 7:30 p.m. 1973 BU alumnus Johnny Rowlands, who is the chief pilot of KMBC’s NewsChopper 9 helicopter, was the host and was joined by Jerry Weakley, vice president for endowment and planned giving. University President Pat Long also helped host the event with Rowlands and Weakley.

“They kind of guided us through the tour of the evening, which was a play on the Academy Awards,” Smith said.

As the assistant director of marketing and communications, Smith and the rest of the marketing department did a lot of work behind the scenes to make sure the event was successful.

“The marketing department did all of the invitations, all of the printed materials, all of the signs,” Smith said. “I personally worked with Through A Glass (Productions) and we executed all of the scripts, the videos of the night which were a big hit. The rest of it was organized by advancement and events, so Lyn Lakin and her team did an awesome job (along with) advancement and alumni.”

Smith indicated that around “a couple hundred” people were in attendance, including a record number of corporate sponsors.

“We had a lot of really, really good sponsors in Baldwin City, Lawrence and Kansas City and more corporate tables than we’ve ever had in the past, so the audience was a little split between Baker and the Kansas City side,” Smith said. “It is just a great event because all of the money goes toward student scholarships, but also allows us to facilitate some new relationships and cultivate some old ones.”