Despite the ominous gray clouds hovering overhead, hundreds of UT students, faculty, alumni and fans trekked to the Hill to see Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb of the “Today” show.
“It is Oct. 1 and it is ‘Moonshine Monday,'” Gifford said as the “fourth hour” segment began.
“We heard a rumor that this was a dry campus,” Kotb joked. “But we came anyway.”
The “Today” show visited UT’s campus after winning “Today’s College Challenge.” To win, UT had to demonstrate they had the most school spirit, and did so. The Volunteers beat out many colleges, including the Ohio State University, University of South Florida and Syracuse University.
The two hosts were decked out in just as much UT orange and white as the ecstatic audience. Both wore white pants and UT football jerseys. Gifford sported #16 as a reference to former Vols quarterback Peyton Manning, while Kotb was wearing Justin Hunter’s #11.
The show featured an array of activities, including makeovers to some of UT’s staff, an interview with country singer Kip Moore, a trivia competition between Gifford and Kotb against college students, a sign contest, a pre-taped segment touring the campus and sampling tailgating cuisine.
The show ended with a musical performance by Moore.
Haley Hagood, senior in logistics, and Kaitlin Houser, junior in marketing, came out to the Hill because she is a huge fan of Gifford and Kotb’s show. Houser arrived at 7:30 a.m. and Hagood arrived at 9:15.
“I watch it every day,” Hagood said. “It was awesome. I still can’t believe that they were that close.”
Houser was impressed that people still came out to the show despite the poor weather conditions. But considering the contest that brought Gifford and Kotb to UT, she’s really not surprised.
“It was a contest about who had the most school spirit,” Houser said, “and it definitely showed in the rain.”
Houser was also glad that UT was getting some positive publicity.
“It cancels some of the negative attention we’ve gotten lately,” Houser said, referring to the recent Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) incident and football losses against Florida and Georgia.
Some audience members weren’t necessarily fans of Gifford and Kotb’s show, but were just interested in being part of the hubbub.
Students such as Josh Wolfe, senior in English, enjoyed the spectacle regardless of not regularly watching the “Today” show.
“It is pretty good,” Wolfe said. “I think it’s good for the campus. It’ll get us some positive feedback.”
Wolfe’s friend Caitlin Taylor, junior in English, shared the sentiment.
“I think it’s good to get some good publicity for a change, especially after the whole PIKE thing,” Taylor said. “And it’s exciting because it gives us a chance to show school spirit.”
Both Wolfe and Taylor arrived at 8 a.m. Even at that early hour, Taylor said it was already crowded.
For some in the crowd, seeing the “Today” show air wasn’t just entertainment but the conclusion of several weeks of hard work. UT’s Office of Communications & Marketing had been instrumental in working with the “Today” show and helping organizing the event.
Rebekah Winkler, communications coordinator, was one of the staff from Communications & Marketing that helped with the show. She said that a lot of hard work was involved in working with the producers of the show.
“We tried to let them know what to expect when they came here,” Winkler said. “We tried to help with anything they would need when they arrived in Knoxville.”
That help included getting in contact with the many student groups that appeared on the show, including the Spirit Squad, UT’s cheerleaders, Smokey and many others. Communications & Marketing also helped gather props and organized the pre-taped segments of the show.
Another concern, of course, was the weather. Thompson-Boling Arena had been selected as an alternative location had the weather become unbearable, but Winkler said that the “Today” producers insisted that the taping should be done in front of Ayres Hall.
Winkler was grateful that the rain that did occur didn’t deter anyone from coming to the show.
“The turnout was fantastic,” Winkler said. “We are so excited that so many fans and students and even alumni were willing to stand out in the rain for hours and have a good time.
“Our Vol fans are hardcore,” she added.
Winkler also noted how helpful the Tri Delta sorority had been in helping win the contest that brought Gifford and Kotb to UT in the first place.
“Some of our Tri Delts were the some of the very first to tweet about bring Kathie Lee and Hoda to UT. Because we saw those tweets we were able to get them involved very early,” Winkler said.
Even UT Chancellor Jimmy Cheek was present in the audience. Cheek was enjoying the show and was glad that the university was getting a chance to show off on a national level.
“They’ve brought a lot of attention to (UT), and it feels very positive,” Cheek said. “To spend a whole hour at the University of Tennessee and a whole hour on us, you couldn’t have any better public relations than that.”
Cheek added that he hopes that those watching the “Today” show can come away with a great appreciation for what being a Volunteer is all about.
“(I hope) the audience is very impressed with what (students) are doing, their maturity, their focus on academics,” said Cheek. “I think just a better knowledge of UT around the country would be a great asset to us.”
