Throughout the mid-20th century, 'Thomas' ranked among the 10 most popular boys names in the country. It has dipped into the 40s as of this year, but the Toms are well represented on campus.
One day in early September, Tom Callan, instructional media engineer, was in the Sarazan Student Union speaking with Tom Templeton, associate director of the counseling center, just as Thom Schlinck '19, operations manager for SALD, walked toward them down the stairs. Callan quipped they should take a selfie of the T(h)oms. They didn't, but a better idea formed.
"I posted the idea to Facebook, and people started suggested other Toms on campus," said Callan. "So, I sent out an email to all Tom employees on campus and Andy Murphy (associate director of marketing) volunteered to take the picture."
Eight T(h)oms were able to make the photoshoot. They wonder if there's another name out there on campus that could challenge them (pull off a picture with more than eight)? If you do, there's a space waiting for you in a future SCoop! In the meantime, Callan believes there's something happening here that runs much deeper than a fun social media post.
"I really love this picture because all of us come from different departments in the College. Some Toms are staff, some are administrators, and some are faculty. This is an example of living President Seifert's vision that we are all one community, and we are all here to support our students."