Giving Day Classics

Brian Britt grilling the bacon — During the inaugural Virginia Tech Giving Day, in 2018, the Department of Religion and Culture offered to throw a bacon party — with appropriate sizzle and donuts! — if it led in the participation challenge.

The College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences revels in Giving Day every year. You know we love the classics in our college, so we’ve collected a few Giving Day classics from previous years.

PPE Takes on a New Meaning

In Beforetimes, we casually used “PPE” as shorthand for “philosophy, politics, and economics.” Yet 2020 schooled us for sure. So for Giving Day 2021, Michael Moehler, director of the Kellogg Center for Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, helped bridge the gap (as experts in that field are wont to do).

The College Has Never Looked So MARVELous

CLAHS Faculty Members as Marvel Characters

Were your Spidey senses tingling in February 2021? That sensation was likely caused by those long, sticky threads of Giving Day!

Assembled Avengers included Sylvester Johnson, director of the Center for Humanities, as Captain America; Bill Roth, professor of practice in sports media and analytics, as the Incredible Hulk; Rebecca Weaver-Hightower, chair of the Department of English, as Spiderman; Laura Belmonte, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, as Iron Man; Patricia Raun, a professor of performance and voice in the School of Performing Arts, as the Black Widow; and a beatific Matthew Gabriele, chair of the Department of Religion and Culture, as Doctor Strange.

Donut Forget to Support the Department of Religion and Culture

Matt Gabriele's head superimposed over a donut

Time to Grill the Bacon

Matt Gabriele was distracted. At the start of Virginia Tech’s inaugural Giving Day in 2018, the frequent tweeter had encouraged his followers to support the Department of Religion and Culture. But then, preoccupied with academics, he failed to watch his department’s standing in the Dean’s Challenge Grants. When Gabriele finally glanced at the leaderboard just hours before the end of Giving Day, he panicked. “Not last place!” he tweeted, along with a screenshot of the leaderboard. “Not last place. Not last place!”

Blake Smith, the department’s information technology specialist, sprang into action. Smith superimposed the face of Brian Britt, then chair of the department, onto a retro image of a suburban barbecue chef and crafted an all-caps tweet.

“BRIAN BRITT WILL THROW A BACON PARTY IF RELIGION & CULTURE HAS THE HIGHEST # OF PEOPLE DONATING OR IF WE HAVE THE HIGHEST AMOUNT DONATED!” the tweet screamed. “ALSO WILLING TO BUY BACON OR DONUTS FOR HIGHEST DONOR. SIZZLE. THANKS!”

Although the Hail Mary pass didn’t lead to a winning touchdown, the department did climb the leaderboard.

Don’t Mess with the Bard

Think Shakespeare has no swag? He invented the word!