“Forever you belong to Ashland, and Ashland belongs to you” are the last two lines in the Alma Mater of Ashland University. For 31 years the Purple Eagle Silent Auction has been a true testament to these lines. After the homecoming football game, alumni from all over the country gather in Upper Convo for a traditional silent auction. Alumni are able to wander around to different tables looking at the items that are for sale. 

The main purpose of this event is to help raise money for the Ashland University Alumni Association, which is self-funded. This year, the silent auction had 208 items up for bid. Items ranged from The Ohio State University football game tickets, to jewelry, to a signed and framed picture of the Ashland University Women’s Basketball Division II National Championship team from last season. The event raised more than $19,000. Money from this event will go to many different places, including endowed scholarships and the new College of Nursing buildings in Mansfield. Many of these items come from local businesses and alumni themselves.

The Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Relations, Jill Segrist Charlton, and the Alumni Board start planning the event in the spring, and get heavily involved in planning by August. The board currently consists of 21 people, but allows for 25 members.

Eric Spaulding, a 2006 graduate of Ashland University and Alumni Board member, believes that alumni give back because they want to do something nice for the university after their experiences here.

“They know that their money is going to something that is a good product,” Spaulding said. “What we get at Ashland is a great product, a great education, a great experience, and you want to give back to that. We have been blessed with a great time here.”

Bob Spaulding, a 1976 graduate and Spaulding’s father, agrees.

“Ashland was probably the four best years of my life. I always enjoy being here and coming back and seeing everybody,” Bob said.

Although the biggest contribution to the event’s popularity is its social draw, giving back to the university is also a benefit. 

“The camaraderie and the ability to talk to people is huge,” Bob said,“It is nice to donate to the Alumni Association; we always try to walk away with some kind of something. But it is really just the chance to see everyone again and get reacquainted.”

Charlton said that when all is said and done at the end of the event, she is proud of everything they have accomplished.

 “When I think of all the lives of students that we’ve affected because of all the money we have raised, I feel very proud,” she said.

Jeff Alix the Director of Alumni and Parent Relations sums up the event well.

“When you do take a step back and look at the big picture of it, you see a board of 25 people who have come together putting all of this effort for a fundraiser, and they do it because they know what it can do, and they do it because they love Ashland,” he said.