You could pick any title — actor, game-show host, businessman, composer, author, PC trustee — to talk about John O’Hurley ’76 & ’06Hon., but there was only one that 750 people cared about on April 27: auctioneer.
Working — by walking among — the crowd like a Southie politician, O’Hurley turned the fourth annual
A Night in Black & White on its heels with a frenetic, often hilarious show of salesmanship that left guests at the Boston Marriott Copley Plaza amused and bemused, and in some cases, broke.
O’Hurley’s Oscar-worthy performance during the Live Auction and Fund-A-Need appeals yielded $230,000 which, when rolled into an outpouring of corporate sponsorship surpassing $500,000, accounted for most of a record total of more than $850,000 for
A Night in Black & White. The figure shattered last year’s previous high of $590,000.
In addition to O’Hurley’s “auction-mania,” PC biggest annual fund-raiser produced two other headlines:
- Kevin C. Phelan ’66, longtime PC trustee, co-chairman of Colliers International, and revered Boston business community leader, was presented the Black & White Award for distinguished service to the College and the community.
- Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, which has managed the PC Bookstore since 1981 and is an annual supporter of several College funds and scholarships, received the first Black & White Corporate Partner Award. The award was accepted by Glen Hoyle ’82, a Barnes & Noble regional manager.
A Night in Black & White supports and celebrates PC. Proceeds — with the exception of the Fund-A-Need appeal, which aids the Angel Fund — benefit the PC Fund to bolster the student experience and the College’s most pressing needs.
“It’s a great night for PC! I think we’ve hit it out of the park,” exclaimed Colleen Cronin Duffy ’83, National Alumni Association Board of Governors president, who chaired the fund-raiser with her husband, Frank Duffy ’83, and Ted ’86 and Kim ’86 McNamara.
View photos from A Night in Black & White here.
View photos from the Black & White Platinum Carpet here.
Directions to download photos:
Click on the photo you want to download from the set.
Click "Actions" in the top left area above the photo.
Scroll down and click "View All Sizes".
Click "Download the large 1024 size of this photo" link above the image.
Save to your computer and print on your own. Enjoy!
Watch the Kevin Phelan '66 tribute video (expanded version) here.
Watch the Barnes & Noble College Booksellers corporate award video here.
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