April 6, 2022
East Texas Baptist University’s chapter of Alpha Lambda Delta recently collected 455 cans of food for the Mission Marshall food pantry. The food drive culminated with the “Pie Your Professor” event, where students had the chance to throw a pie at the faculty or staff member who collected the highest number of cans.
“The National Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society’s service focus for this year was hunger and food insecurity,” Student Success Specialist Vanessa Johnston said. “During a planning meeting, our members chose what we wanted to do as a chapter. They decided a canned food drive would be fun, but as an extra incentive, they decided to put a little twist on it and have pie thrown at the professor who had the most cans donated. The students were very excited, and luckily we had a lot of great faculty and staff volunteer.”
Six ETBU faculty and staff members volunteered to be pied for the cause. Their pictures were placed on boxes in the Ornelas Student Center, and ETBU students were encouraged to bring canned food and place it in the box of the faculty or staff they would most like to see pied. At the end of the collection period, the participants gathered in the Quad for the final reveal of the winner.
“All the faculty and staff were volunteers, so they wanted to do this out of the kindness of their hearts,” President of ALD and senior elementary education major Kayleigh Hill said. “It’s been really cool to see this all come together and end today on a high note with 455 cans. We are all so happy to be able to help Mission Marshall.”
Prior to the pies in the face, there was jovial bargaining amongst the professors to be left out of getting pied, with Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Eric Hillman jokingly reminding his students that their grades were due in six weeks. However, the Alpha Lambda Delta members present were happy for the chance to not only pie their professors but help the community as well.
In reference to the professor he pied, Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Lisa Daniel, ALD member and freshman kinesiology wellness-management major Brandon Riggins said, “Dr. Daniel is a great professor and I really enjoy her class. I came out to support her, hoping she would win.”
The top three finishers in the number of cans collected were Assistant Professor of Nursing Dr. Antay Parker in first place, Assistant Athletic Director Reid Adams in second place, and Associate Professor of Christian Ministry Dr. Timothy Pierce in third place. Other participating faculty and staff were ETBU Football Head Coach Brian Mayper, Dr. Hillman, and Dr. Daniel.
About Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society (ALD)
ALD is a national honor society that distinguishes first-year academic success, with invitations to join only extended to students who obtain a 3.5 GPA or higher during the first semester of their freshman year. ALD holds over 280 chapters nationwide, with over one million students initiated.