While today kicks off ASW for those who arrived early, a week ago we were in the midst of Tuck Gives, a week-long fundraising effort to support non-profit/public sector internships for my classmates. It’s amazing how generous the whole community is—from donating handmade craft items (like custom Tuck coasters, a knitted Tuck shield) to donations of time (a squash lesson, playing basketball with a core marketing professor) to donations of really big-ticket items (a week at a beach house in North Carolina, a steak dinner at a professor’s house with a magic show, an evening of cigars and spirits with a professor), it seemed like everyone opened up and donated something.
The week culminated with Thursday’s live auction. Though it was only a week ago, it feels like it was 40 years ago, though that’s likely because the theme—Studio 54—harkens back to the renowned 1977-1981 nightclub. The auctioneers/hosts got things off on a great note with this amusing video, and soon faculty members and others were extolling the benefits of the items they had donated (Dean Danos was enthusiastic in encouraging people to bid on his Louisiana Crawfish Boil; Professor Argenti promised specific bottles of wine if the bidding exceeded various thresholds; Professor Blanchard described the preparations going into the BBQ, homebrew, and bonfire extravaganza at her house; Tuck’s Hockey A Team [the really good team—they won their local league championship earlier that week] described all of the benefits that would go to the winner of “Play a game with the A Team”).
The week ended up raising over $60,000! It’s a great way for the community to demonstrate, very tangibly, how important non-profit and public-sector careers are and how, for this cause, we put our money (and time) where our mouth is. Though it’s still 51 weeks away, I’m already looking forward to Tuck Gives 2014!