Professors pummeled with pies for fundraiser

The annual Pie Your Professor fundraiser exceeded the expectations of the WSU Student National Association for Teachers of Singing (SNATS) organization, and made students smile after seeing their professors’ faces smeared in whipped cream.

In the Kimbrough Music Building lobby, students and professors could purchase tickets throughout the week leading up to the event, and could choose how many tickets to buy for each professor or graduate student they most desired to see pied in the face.

The four participants with the most tickets in their jars by the start of the event yesterday got just that.

SNATS Vice President Mali McEnderfer remembers her first Pie Your Professor fundraiser as a freshman to be one of her most memorable experiences. She wanted to bring the event back, since last year the fundraiser did not happen because the organization’s focus was on their abroad concert tour.

“We got really popular professors that helped make [Pie Your Professor] successful,” McEnderfer said. “I’m really happy it went well.”

Treasurer of SNATS Clare Sullivan was most excited to see well-respected individuals get pied, but soon became more surprised and thrilled by the success of the fundraiser.

“[Professor Danh Pham] has been making this big fuss about getting pied and emailing students who put their name in his jar to bribe them not to pie him,” Sullivan said. “It’s really to get more people to participate. He’s been a big help under this veil of being a diva.”

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The purpose of SNATS is to bring in guest artists who perform in concerts and lead master classes for music students about once a semester, which can get pricey, Sullivan said.

This year the fundraiser brought in $291, almost enough to cover the accompanists of one guest artist, which is very beneficial for SNATS, Sullivan said.

“I like that there’s tons of respect for all our [School of Music] professors because they are all phenomenal musicians and teachers,” she said. “They’re all very good-humored.”

Throughout the week leading up to the event, professors would buy other professors’ tickets in the hopes that they would get pied instead, while simultaneously supporting the organization’s efforts, McEnderfer said.

“It’s a relatively cheap way to make a fundraiser,” McEnderfer said. “It was a lot of fun and everyone loved it.”