Get your head in the game
Tom Davis, who has been the barber on the Tulane University campus for more than 50 years, is sending out a challenge to all alumni. Davis has donated $500 for the Home Field Advantage campaign, and he is appealing to others to do likewise.
Tulane barber Tom Davis, who was named an honorary alumnus of the university, has donated $500 for the Home Field Advantage campaign because he's excited about a new on-campus stadium. (Photo by Paula Burch-Celentano)
Davis invites alumni, professors, staff members and students to come into his barber shop in the Lavin-Bernick Center and donate. A haircut is optional.
In December 2011, Tulane announced the Home Field Advantage campaign to raise $60 million for construction of an on-campus football stadium and related facilities, and provide a $10 million boost to the football program.
Looking back, Davis recalls the innumerable times he partied during football games in the old on-campus stadium with other barbers who worked in the student center. There were four others, but he is the last remaining barber at Tulane.
Davis was thrilled when the Tulane Alumni Association recognized his service to the university by naming him an honorary alumnus at a party to celebrate his 83rd birthday in 2009. So now, he figures he should do his part for the university, and he especially hopes his many customers through the years will join him in donating.
David Edwards, a member of the Board of Tulane and one of the barber's regular customers, was the first to write a $500 check, which he dropped off to the barber. Edwards, who graduated from Tulane in 1971, also received his law degree from Tulane.
How many potential donors visit the barber?
“We're talking about 51 classes,” Davis says. “I'd like to raise a lot $20 is a lot for me.”
