An wide range of Georgetown students, faculty, administrators and alumni gathered in Darnall Hall last night for the second annual Hilltop Auction to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The charitable event was organized by the Hilltop Auction Fund, a group of students working through the Office of Volunteer and Public Service.

More than 100 people showed up to the auction sporting big hats and fancy suits, keeping with this year’s southern theme.

“We put it together in about three weeks,” said Christine Fraser (MSB ’08), the group’s marketing manager. “There are over 50 items [included in the] raffle, silent auction and live auction.”

The Auction Fund will give 75 percent of its takings to Georgetown University Hurricane Emergency Relief Effort, the student group that organized in response to Katrina. The other 25 percent will be donated to the Office of Volunteer and Public Service.

The Hilltop Auction was founded in 2002 by current GUSA Vice President Nate Wright (COL ’06) and Slade Smith (MSB ’06). The group did not hold an auction last year, preferring instead to develop and organize its plans for this year, members said.

“We started planning last year,” Reagan Smith (MSB ’08), the vice chairman of the organization, said. “More than anything, we talked to the co-founders Slade and Nate and heard their comments.”

Smith said the auction was geared toward the Georgetown community, offering items such as dinners with faculty and portraits of Jack the Bulldog. A dinner for eight with Dan Porterfield, vice president for public affairs and strategic development, sold for around $800 and was a popular choice among the items offered in the live auction.

“The generosity of the community is overwhelming, from senators to students to faculty to staff,” Fraser said.

Porterfield donated three items to the live auction and advised the group in its planning.

“[The auction] shows that students and faculty want to be together,” Porterfield said. “I predict that the third, fourth and fifth auctions will build on this one.”

Many Georgetown clubs, faculty and administrators donated items to the auction. GUGS contributed a certificate for one burger per barbecue for a year and organizers even auctioned off a special dinner for four with famed dining-services worker Altagracia Sanchez.

“We tried to target main people from all different clubs,” Smith said. “Dorm halls donated a basket – Village C West, Copley all donated items, which is wonderful.”

The live auction alone raised $9,107.37.

The sums from the raffle and silent action had yet to be calculated late last night.

“I’m really pleased with how things turned out tonight,” Stephanie Hill (COL ’06), chairwoman of the Auction Fund, said. “It’s really great to see the excitement. . I hope in the future, the focus remains on Georgetown groups.”