Participants in Kiss Off pucker up to support philanthropy

His lips had barely touched the silver aluminum of the 2002 Pontiac Grand GT that sat on Delta Upsilon fraternity’s front lawn.\nBut freshman LaVon Carter quickly took his lips off the car and walked away, leaving 19 other puckered-up contestants behind him.\nDelta Upsilon and Alpha Chi Omega sorority teamed Saturday to present Kiss Off, a philanthropy event to raise money for the Boys and Girls Club and Middle Way House. \nAs Carter walked away without even five seconds of lip-to-car action, fraternity brothers looked at him in confusion.\nHe had purchased a $5 raffle ticket to participate in the contest, which offered the car as a prize to the person who could kiss it the longest. But Carter said he didn’t do it for the automobile.\n“It’s for the Boys and Girls Club. That’s the main reason,” Carter said. “I don’t need the car; I’m doing it for the kids. Every dollar counts.”\nThe event raised close to $5,000. Junior Brad Newell of Delta Upsilon said the car helped raise more money for the event.\n“People think that if we raise enough money to buy the car then why don’t we give it to the charity,” he said. “But the reason we don’t hand the money right over is because we want to raise campus awareness and get people involved. It allows people an incentive to donate.”\nNewell said that of more than 900 tickets sold, most bought to donate to charity, not win the car. Most of them contestants selected to pucker up were not present Saturday.\nThe 20 kissers who did participate performed well. A variety of gymnastic moves accompanied their kissing as they tested strategies to stay in the contest. Delta Upsilon member and sophomore Alex Ray supported his girlfriend, participant Michaela Conner, throughout the event, as she wrote him notes and used her purple flip-flops for hand pads. \nAt last year’s Kiss-Off, senior Chris Medlyn kissed for 15 hours before winning a yellow 1998 Ford Mustang. This year it only took about six hours before Tommy Dutko, a non-IU resident, won the car. Newell said the strict judging at this year’s event aimed to make the kissing harder and to get people eliminated quickly so participants would be allowed to enjoy the day. \nDutko, who is friends with some Delta Upsilon members, drove three hours from his home in Cedar Lake, Ind., and won the contest after purchasing three raffle tickets. After winning, Dutko was shocked.\n“I’m not even that excited because I am in shock,” said Dutko, who exclaimed, “I love everyone here!” after winning the car. He congratulated sophomore Suzanne Hakeem, who came in second.\nDutko said he is uncertain what he’s going to do with his new vehicle, but he is thinking of selling it. \nWhile Hakeem’s strategy was to remain like a statue while kissing the car’s back bumper, Dutko said he relied on a little bit of movement to keep him going. \nThe rules were simple: Contestants was to kiss the car for as long as they could. If participants’ lips ever left the car’s surface, they were eliminated. Only their lips could touch the car; if any other body part touched, they were disqualified.\nThe event kicked off shortly before 2 p.m. By 4:30, only four contestants remained. Senior Dustin Marlan was one of them. \n“I’m really upset. I really wanted the car, you know?” he said. “It’s terrible when you are the last four. I thought there were more people on the car.”\nMarlan tried to adjust his position when he accidentally took his lips from the car.\n“There is so much room for slip-ups and errors,” he said. “It sucks. I gave so much effort, and it was such a small mess-up.”\nJunior and Delta Upsilon member David Kittle said the event was fun to organize. Kittle helped lead the Kiss-Off last year.\n“It’s good to get the community involved,” Kittle said. “and it’s important to give back when we have brothers and the means to do it.”