All proceeds from the T-shirt sales will go to the nonprofit STOMP Out BullyingUNIV. OF TENNESSEE
A Florida boy bullied for wearing a homemade Univ. of Tennessee T-shirt during college colors day got such an "overwhelming amount of support after his story went viral that the university decided to step in too," according to Andrea Adelson of ESPN.com. The boy's original UT design is now "featured on a special T-shirt for sale through the VolShop." UT Dir of Media Relations Tyra Haag said that presales of the shirt, for "expected delivery in late September, have topped 16,000 orders, and all proceeds from the sales will go to the nonprofit STOMP Out Bullying." The story began last week when the teacher of the fourth-grade student in Altamonte Springs, Fla., "posted what happened on Facebook." Laura Snyder wrote in her post that the boy was a "huge Vols fan but did not have a shirt to wear for college colors day." He told her he had an "orange shirt he wanted to wear." When he arrived for school that day, he had "attached a piece of paper with his own UT design clipped to the front." But after lunch, he "came back to his classroom crying." Snyder wrote, "Some girls at the lunch table next to his (who didn't even participate in college colors day) had made fun of his sign" (ESPN.com, 9/9).
IN HIGH DEMAND: ABCNEWS.com's William Mansell noted UT's pre-order page for the special T-shirt is still "experiencing delays and outages due to high demand." The page was "down for hours over the weekend due to overwhelming demand." UT fans "placed the student's design on its famous 'The Rock' statue" (ABCNEWS.com, 9/9).
