Joy has come back to Connecticut: UConn is going home to the Big East. The fans are thrilled and they’re putting their money where their mouth is. Shortly after UConn’s Board of Trustees voted to approve the conference switch, The Hartford Guy tweeted an excellent suggestion: donate $19.79 to UConn to show support for the Big East move in honor of the year the original conference was founded.
My good friend @TrusteeDaniels has a fabulous idea: We should all give $19.79 to UConn in honor of the year the Big East was founded.
I'll be doing that today and you should too. cc: @NoEscalators @ADimeBack @TheUConnBloghttps://t.co/DGz9eIJgHH
— The Hartford Guy (@TheHartfordGuy) June 26, 2019
UConn fans responded with aplomb. And in less than 24 hours, the Husky Excellence Fund, which goes to support general UConn Athletics, received $2,368 total, including 79 donations of $19.79, according to Jennifer Doak-Mathewson ’06, Director of Engagement and Acquisition at the UConn Foundation.
The $19.79 donations came in so quickly that Doak-Mathewson added a $19.79 quick action button to the donation page to make it easier for people to participate in the campaign. She was also in the mix on Twitter, sending out direct links to donate.
And the scroll on the Foundations page became a thing of beauty. Under donations for $19.79 the messages poured in:
“Back home in the Big East!!”
“We’re back!!”
“You know why.”
“I love you”
“Big East baby!”
“Thank you for finally taking matters into our own hands and bringing us back where we belong.”
“BIG EAST LETS GOOOO”
“Thank you for getting UConn out of AAC hell and back where we belong!”
“Feels like an eternity. Hello again, Big East.”
“Illegitimi non carborundum” (A loose translation for “don’t let the bastards grind you down,” and seriously LOL)
There is a small but very vocal minority who were swearing, for reasons utterly passing understanding, that they would never donate again. But here was a showing of UConn fans en masse that they support the move. Too many fans checked out when UConn started playing teams we’ve never heard of, and the Big East reunion has revitalized a fan base that in recent years could best be described as apathetic.
And if anything was going to inspire people to open their wallets, it was the promise of playing Villanova and Georgetown every year, and never having to play Tulsa or ECU ever, ever again. Since news of the move leaked five days ago, 2,000 have purchased or renewed their season tickets, according to UConn AD David Benedict.
UConn’s Big East-related fundraising campaign will be continuing through the weekend, so there’s still time to get those $19.79 contributions in and show that you’re behind the move to the Big East.
“There is so much energy and enthusiasm around this move that we want to offer the opportunity for fans to show their support,” Doak-Mathewson said.
In addition to the UConn Foundation, the Husky Ticket Project – which uses 100 percent of donations received to send kids to UConn football games – also got an influx of donations, adding about $450 to their coffers since yesterday. That figure is enough to send an additional four or five kids to every home football game this year.
“Yesterday was really one of the truly great days for UConn Nation in a long time. It reminded us of what the fan base is capable of when we come together,” said Kevin Kortsep ’12. “Being a dominant athletic program is wholly possible – if we all take a collective step in that direction. Through Husky Ticket Project, we will do our part by collecting our alumni’s generous donations, donating tickets to under privileged Connecticut-area youth, and inspiring the next generation of Husky fans.”
⇢ Donate to the Husky Excellence Fund.
⇢ Donate to the Husky Ticket Project.
