Purple Your Professor a Sloppy Success

Dr. White and Doug Moore smile good-naturedly after being painted for the cause. 
Photo by Haley McCord

Jack Sheffler proudly shows off his new purple 'do.
Photo by Haley McCord

On Thursday, November 19, three willing professors were painted purple after raising the most money and awareness for Relay For Life on campus and the American Cancer Society. Members of the Public Relations Workshop raised the money by setting up a donation table in the Student Center. At the Relay For Life table, each professor participating had their own container for donations; whichever three professors received the most money before November 19 at 2:00 PM would be painted purple. Students chose which professors to paint purple by donating money into that professor’s container.

Out of the professors that participated, the three who raised the most money were Douglass Moore, Information Systems Specialist in the Marsh Library with $27.00, Jack Sheffler, Chair of the Division of Fine Arts and Associate Professor of Art with  $25.12, and Dr. Jim White, Professor of Political Science with an impressive $45.00. The fundraiser raised a grand total of $135.18, all of which will be donated to Relay For Life of Concord University. With this donation, the current total for Relay For Life of Concord University is $1,468.  The event turned out to be a great success and may happen again in semesters to follow.

Although the weather was not ideal, and the cold wind kept the audience shivering, students were able to attend the event and witness the painting. Doug Moore went first, and took the purple paint being poured over his head like a champion. Dr. White was next, and students seemed to really enjoy watching the political science professor being slathered with non-toxic paint. After the first two professors, Douglass Moore and Jim White were painted, the audience braved the cold while waiting for Jack Sheffler to arrive; he was approximately twenty minutes late, but finally showed up right in the nick of time. When Sheffler finally arrived, he was dressed in a plain white tee-shirt, shorts, bare feet, and goofy glasses with eyes painted on the lenses. Students cheered at his late arrival, and Sheffler got the pleasure of enduring all of the remaining paint, which earned more cheers from the growing student crowd. All the professors were really great sports about the whole experience, and seemed happy to help contribute to a worthy cause.

Kristen Osborne, a Concord student who attended the event, says “The Paint Your Professor Purple fundraiser was an awesome idea! I loved the theme, and it was a fantastic way to get students involved with helping out such a good cause. I 100% think that it would be a great idea for a fundraiser in the future. Students will pay big money to see their professors covered in paint, as we saw after this year’s profits.”

For anyone that missed out on all the sloppy fun, fear not! Osborne also videotaped the event and uploaded the video to Youtube. For anyone who wants to watch the video visit Osborne’s Youtube account: KrissProductions. Pictures and video of the event can also be seen on Facebook and on the Marquee screens in the Alexander Fine Arts Center lobby.