UniVersity Advancement
Giving Tuesday 2022
Tennessee Tech honors Golden Eagles loved and lost on Giving Tuesday
On this year’s Giving Tuesday, Tennessee Tech University honored professors, administrators, coaches and benefactors by inviting the Golden Eagle community to make a gift in honor or memory of someone who had an impact on their college experience.
Since 2016, Tech has participated in Giving Tuesday, an international day of giving when people all over the world support causes that have a positive impact on their communities. Giving Tuesday is celebrated on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving each year.
“Tech lost many impactful members of the Golden Eagle community over the last few years,” said Kathleen Lordo, digital media coordinator for Tech’s Crawford Alumni Center. “And we’ve heard so many stories from alumni and people in the community about how these individuals made lasting impressions. It’s not uncommon for alumni to tell us about professors they had 50 years ago and the classes they took or advice they received that changed their lives.”
Leading up to Giving Tuesday, Tech’s Crawford Alumni Center released its annual Impact Magazine and dedicated this year’s edition to university legacies. The publication featured the late President Emeritus Angelo Volpe, Tech’s first African American administrator Leo McGee, the university’s largest donor Millard Oakley, history professors Calvin Dickinson and Michael Birdwell, education professor Harvey Neufeldt, former dean of the Whitson-Hester School of Nursing Sheila Green and engineering trailblazers Carl and Marie Ventrice, just to name a few.
While donors could give to any area on campus on Giving Tuesday, Tech specifically highlighted the University Memorial Scholarship, which honors the memories of Golden Eagles who have passed away. Any student is eligible to be considered for the University Memorial Scholarship, and it is one of Tech’s most strategic scholarships for recruitment and retention. To apply for the University Memorial Scholarship or any other Tennessee Tech scholarship, visit tntech.edu/scholarships and complete the scholarship application by Dec. 15.
Lordo says seeing the names donors chose to honor was inspiring.
“Giving Tuesday gave alumni the chance to honor and thank the people in their lives who maybe they wish they had thanked years ago,” Lordo said. “And they got to do it in a way that will benefit the next generation of students.”
