Students at the University of Connecticut have raised over $1,800 in just 3 hours in support of a dining services worker who is a local campus celebrity.
Luis is the man of the hour at UConn. The UConn dining services employee’s chant of “Supe dupe!” can be heard all day long in the Student Union and has become a part of UConn culture.
Several UConn students decided to interview Luis for a documentary project for a Communication class, which gives a peek into Luis’ daily life and the meaning behind his famous mantra.
Alex Hu, one of the students behind the documentary, said the idea to feature Luis stemmed from a short film Professor Stephen Stifano showed in COMM 2940, called Delivery.
“None of us knew his name at that point and we thought it would [sic] be a great idea to let the whole UConn community [sic] know about his name and his life.” Hu also said Luis was on board with the idea right away.
After uploading the documentary to YouTube, Hu posted in the popular UConn Buy or Sell Facebook page to show UConn students a little more about their favorite dining hall worker. The post has since received over 1,200 likes and many heartfelt comments such as, “I legitimately cried at this. I love this man,” and “I only admire him more now.”
“I think the reason why [the post was] successful is because of Luis. Because of who he is as a person and all the positivity that he brought to us and how much we love him,” said Hu.
UConn definitely loves Luis, alright.
Students have raised over $1,800 in a GoFundMe campaign to go towards Marc Anthony concert tickets for Luis’ family in celebration of his 40th birthday this December.
Lindsay Warner, the UConn student behind the GoFundMe campaign, said she is “absolutely shocked” by the results.
Warner said the idea for Marc Anthony concert tickets came about with the help of several other members of the UConn Buy or Sell Facebook page after noting that Luis mentioned in the documentary that he liked to dance.
Warner’s group set the GoFundMe goal at $1,000, a total she initially believed to be too high. After only 2 hours, they had raised over $1,500.
“We are so happy to see the UConn community rally behind this campaign to support Luis. He is for sure an asset at UConn. As I am writing this, we just surpassed $1,750! I am stunned and couldn’t be prouder to be a UConn Husky.”
In the past, gifts to UConn employees from the student body have been denied due to university and state regulations. When students tried to treat the Student Union staff to a nice dinner after the infamous Mac and Cheese incident, UConn spokesperson Stephanie Reitz said in a statement, that state law and UConn policies restrict gifts workers can receive related to their employment, but that the university worked with those behind the fundraiser regarding what to do with the money raised.
Students are working on looking into a way for the money raised in this campaign to go towards its intended purpose while keeping it within policy.
UConn professor, Stephen Stifano, who assigned the documentary project to Hu and the rest of the COMM 2940 class, said he is both amazed and excited at the response the video has gotten including the fundraising campaign.
“It’s great to see a good person who works hard and takes pride in their job appreciated by his fellow Huskies. And given how much divisive, negative content we’ve seen posted on social media over the past few months, it’s refreshing to see everyone come together and pitch in to do something nice,” said Stifano.
COMM 2940, otherwise known as Fundamentals of Digital Production, is a newer course the university has started offering.
Stifano said he and his colleagues are working on making it a staple of COMM curriculum with a follow up course, COMM 4940 (Digital Video Production) for students who want to “embrace their creative side” and get experience in digital production for their future careers.
When asked if there was any advice he would give to aspiring student filmmakers Stifano replied, “Find a story that you want to tell, a story that needs to be told, and tell it – the rest will take care of itself.”
Luis’ story is one that has resonated with the UConn student body with the creation of the short documentary sparking conversation, thoughts, and altruism.
The support from UConn students for Luis and the rest of the UConn dining service employees is enormous and shows a strong sense of Husky Pride.