The University of Texas at Austin and Texas AandM University are engaged in a fundraising competition that will culminate on Thanksgiving when the schools’ football teams meet in their annual game.
University of Texas at Austin alumni and other Longhorn fans are urged to visit a special Web site, www.giving.utexas.edu/challenge, to donate to The University of Texas at Austin. AandM alumni and fans are being urged to support their school. Whichever university’s alumni can reach a higher amount of participation through Friday, Nov. 21 will win the contest. The winning university will be announced at halftime of the Nov. 27 game. View a running tally of how much money each school has raised.
Gifts of any amount will count as participation, but as an added incentive to give generously, each $20 increment elicits an entry for a random drawing. The prize? Tickets to the sold-out game. The University of Texas at Austin and AandM will each award one pair to a lucky donor.
Both universities will ultimately gain–donated funds will benefit the institution to which they are designated, win or lose–but, as on the gridiron, only one team will have the winner’s bragging rights for the entire next year.
The Thanksgiving weekend football game between The University of Texas at Austin and Texas AandM–officially called the State Farm Lone Star Showdown–is one of the nation’s longest and most storied rivalries. The two schools have played 114 times, and Texas holds a 73-36-5 advantage.
This year’s version of the Lone Star Showdown will be played in Austin on Nov. 27, and it marks the first time since 1993 the game will be played on Thanksgiving Day rather than the day after.