Calling all bachelors working on your bachelor’s: Lisa Hogan, the coed-at-heart promoter behind Tappa Kegga Bru Events and student-friendly specials like $10 Fridays at Union, is looking to give away even more beer to a lucky 21-plus undergrad. Besides unlimited free drinks at all Hogan’s parties, the selected bloke will enjoy privileges like first dibs on t-shirts and gear she gets from liquor sponsors, her plus-one invites to rooftop parties and VIP events, and tickets to go to see the Bears, Cubs and concerts for the rest of the school year.
Of course, drinks are never really free; in return the gentleman promises to be her “boyfriend” for the duration of Loyola’s spring semester and fight the crowds around the bar for beer whenever she gets thirsty. Though Hogan has already had two “semester boyfriends,” this is the first time she has opened the application process to the men of local universities (and recent grads in the area) by creating a Facebook event to which they can RSVP with reasons they are worthy of the title.
“They’re kind of like my beer bitch – cabana boys I guess you could call it,” she says. “As a stipulation for a semester boyfriend, they have to tell me how pretty I am at least once a week.”
The tradition dates back to Spring Quarter last year when Hogan and Communication ’07 Nathan Shanks jokingly listed that they were in a relationship on Facebook. (“We were already hanging out so much already,” says Hogan, who knew Shanks through the weekly Union parties.) They broke off their Facebook pairing in July, but she says some young men were still jealous.
“Starting in August someone else wanted to be my semester boyfriend,” Hogan says. That’s how she got the idea of holding an online contest or the spot “as a joke.”
“Then some guys replied to it,” she says. “I’ve got one guy at Loyola that is just totally begging me to be the semester boyfriend.” But it remains unclear how tough the competition really is.
Among the participants on Facebook is Communications senior Danny Gornetzki, a familiar face behind the bar at the 1800 Club. “I definitely didn’t mean to sign up for that,” he says. “I don’t have time.”
According to Hogan, some other well-known Wildcats – including football running back Tyrell Sutton and wrestler Jake Herbert – have applied, and she is hoping they stay in the game. While she wouldn’t mind an athlete on her arm, she says inability to comply with the time commitment and girlfriends may be disqualifying factors.
“I don’t want any girls calling me,” she says. “(But) both parties are free to hook up with other people as desired.” To deal with schedule issues, though, she plans to select a backup boyfriend for the first time this quarter.
Herbert is already out of the running. Not only is he taken, he is also off -campus all year training for the Olympics-in Colorado Springs. “Lisa’s great. If I didn’t have a girlfriend, and I was there, I definitely would do it,” he says. “But I got a girlfriend so I’m not going to put my relationship in danger.”
Who knows what fall will bring, when men will have another chance at the honor. “It’ll start again next year, until I get gray hair,” Hogan insists. Right now the contest is limited to Facebook wall posts and informal beer-fueled requests, but Hogan says she would love to hold a live event to make her decision. “(The boys) are always asking, ‘Did you pick yet, did you pick?” she says. “Let’s just hope it doesn’t go international.”
