Virtual BASH

Virtual+BASH

Carson Reynolds, Jay Journal Staff

BASH is an annual fundraiser run by Creighton Prep to earn money for students to help with lowering the cost of tuition. And like everything else the event has been modified because of COVID. The annual BASH event has been forced to go virtual for the year of 2020 and 2021. And there are even talks about staying virtual for next year. 

BASH is as much of a tradition at Prep as it is a useful tool used to help students and their families. And although it takes a massive effort and dozens of people to put on the event, Mrs. Amy Knight is the person behind the scenes spearheading the operation. The Jay Journal sat down with Mrs. Knight for an interview to ask her about BASH and the struggles that come with being virtual both this year and last.

Jay Journal: I wanted to start off first asking what is BASH and how does it help the student body? 

Knight: BASH is our annual dinner auction. It’s been around for 51 years, last year was our big 50th celebration. But, of course, that was virtual and this year will be too. But the proceeds of BASH go towards helping the student body, over 50% of students with tuition assistance. 

Jay Journal: What does BASH stand for? 

Knight: Building A Scholastic Heritage. A lot of people don’t know that it stands for anything but that’s a really important motto to us. It’s everything we want to be and “BASH” gives us the ability to do this at Prep. 

Jay Journal: Has there been a drop off in attendance since you’ve had to go virtual?

Knight: What was so cool about last year was we attracted bidders from all across the country. From California to Texas and New York, the virtual option has given us a little more reach especially to our alums  and even past parents who maybe wouldn’t have attended before. And that gives all of them the opportunity to bid online. So we actually saw an increase in the bidders we had online vs previous years. 

Jay Journal: Is there anything that you’ve had to take out that you usually do? 

Knight: We still were able to have the raffle last year. The real challenge is in the auction, we were still able to have some live items on the auction block. But you lose the effect of people bidding against each other in person. But also we had so many people participating and bidding that we actually far exceeded what we would normally do in person. Moreso on the silent auction but we were still able to have some live items this year. But the virtual thing luckily let us reach a lot of alums  and therefore that increased bidding. 

Jay Journal: Once Covid is over and it’s safe to go back, do you see the program staying virtual or maybe having a virtual option?

Knight: One thing that Covid has left with us for good in probably all of our events – BASH just being one of them – is all these events will have some virtual components. We don’t want to let go of those folks that couldn’t be here because of the distance. And spring is a difficult time with baseball and track and everything, so keeping a virtual option will definitely remain going forward. But I couldn’t see us being fully virtual if we don’t have to. 

Jay Journal: Do you think the virtual BASH was as successful as normal or as successful as you were hoping? 

Knight: Virtual BASH 2020, far exceeded our expectations. We had a very successful event and we could only hope for the same this year too. People were very very generous, and you would have people that would buy a table or a few seats in normal years and instead of that now they’re just making a straight donation. There’s more bidding and more activity on things like that. So yes, we definitely had the same level of success if not more. 

Jay Journal: What’s the thing you miss most about BASH?

Knight: Well the really hard thing, and the really sad thing is that BASH is such a community event. It’s so fun to have everyone here and have that comradery with one another. And it’s hard not having that at least for this year. But yah, it’s just a community building event and I would say that’s the aspect we’re missing most about BASH. 

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BASH raises more than 3 million dollars annually and 100% of those funds are used to lower the price of education for all of us. The actual cost to educate one student at Prep is over $17,000, which is a lot higher than the price we actually pay. Because of BASH and private donations, this number is able to stay much more affordable for all students at Prep. 

The BASH auction starts Monday April 19th and ends on Saturday April 24th. You can find more information and places to bid or donate at BASH info. Every day at Prep is a gift, and it would be impossible to be here without the support and generosity of the patrons that attend BASH.