{"358711":{"#nid":"358711","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Glee Club Surprises Clough at Retirement Reception","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPresident Emeritus and Tech alum Wayne Clough celebrated the end of his time as secretary of the Smithsonian Institution on Dec. 8, and during his retirement reception, he was surprised by a group of familiar faces \u2014 and voices.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Men\u2019s Glee Club had quietly worked with Clough\u2019s staff at the Smithsonian to arrange the visit, which served to bookend the Glee Club\u2019s performance at Clough\u2019s Smithsonian inauguration in 2009.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe Glee Club loves G. Wayne\u0026nbsp;\u2014\u0026nbsp;everyone loves G. Wayne\u0026nbsp;\u2014\u0026nbsp;so we thought, let\u2019s go make the old man cry,\u201d said Jonathan Johnson, roadie for the Glee Club and a fifth-year applied mathematics major.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe initial suggestion came from Marilyn Somers, director of Tech\u2019s Living History Program. Once the Glee Club officers decided to pursue it, they were faced with a big obstacle: they were broke.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey met with administrators from around campus to ask for donations, securing the first from the College of Engineering, where Clough earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in civil engineering. The College of Architecture, College of Computing, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts, School of Music, Student Foundation, and Office of the President all pitched in to raise enough funds to get 16 current members, plus Glee Club directors Timothy Hsu and Jerry Ulrich, to Washington, D.C.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThey were joined by 26 alumni, who willingly paid their own way to get there, and performed for around two hours. Clough was made aware of their presence when the first note of music hit the air.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt was great seeing his face change from shock, to amusement, to gratitude,\u201d said Zack Dunda, a 2011 alumnus who made the trip.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe group began with an original Georgia Tech medley arranged by Ulrich, associate professor in the School of Music and director of Choral Activities. From there, they sang a mix of popular hits (\u201cBrown-Eyed Girl\u201d and a Monkees medley), gospel (\u201cAmazing Grace\u201d and \u201cSpirit in the Sky\u201d), and even show tunes (\u201cNothing Like a Dame\u201d from South Pacific).\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe get bored singing the same thing all the time, so we like to mix it up,\u201d Johnson said. The set did evoke tears from Clough, as both Johnson and Dunda had predicted it might.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EClough earned his degree from Georgia Tech in 1964 and served as president from 1994\u20132008. He was known for being an avid supporter of the Glee Club during his tenure as president, so much so that the group wanted to travel to his retirement despite most of them not having been on campus under his leadership.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThere\u2019s a mythos of how awesome he is that permeates campus,\u201d Johnson said. After the reception, Clough spent about an hour with Glee Club members, posing for selfies and signing Tech memorabilia.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe student performers flew into D.C. that morning on red-eye flights to make the reception, and returned that night or Tuesday to make it back to campus for finals.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn Tuesday\u2019s return flight, a flight attendant asked the group for an encore performance.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen the flight attendant asks if you\u2019ll perform over the PA, the only answer is yes,\u201d Dunda said. The group performed two Christmas carols for passengers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAs an alum in the Atlanta area, Dunda has stayed active with the Glee Club since graduation. He credits the group for much of his own growth and development while at Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s great to have something like the Glee Club to take your mind off the daily grind of Tech life,\u201d he said. \u201cIt really helped me get involved, meet people, grow in leadership, and improve my interpersonal skills. Even for alumni, it\u2019s great to still have that connection.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDespite having just one two-hour rehearsal prior to the Smithsonian reception, Dunda said, it was the best he\u2019d heard the group sound since he joined in 2007.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Glee Club planned a surprise performance at the retirement reception for President Emeritus Wayne Clough at the Smithsonian.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Glee Club planned a surprise performance at the retirement reception for President Emeritus Wayne Clough at the Smithsonian."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2014-12-18 12:21:22","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:46","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2014-12-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"358651":{"id":"358651","type":"image","title":"Glee Club and G. 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