Glee Club Surprises Clough at Retirement Reception

President 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 — and voices.

The Georgia Tech Men’s Glee Club had quietly worked with Clough’s staff at the Smithsonian to arrange the visit, which served to bookend the Glee Club’s performance at Clough’s Smithsonian inauguration in 2009.

“The Glee Club loves G. Wayne — everyone loves G. Wayne — so we thought, let’s go make the old man cry,” said Jonathan Johnson, roadie for the Glee Club and a fifth-year applied mathematics major.

The initial suggestion came from Marilyn Somers, director of Tech’s Living History Program. Once the Glee Club officers decided to pursue it, they were faced with a big obstacle: they were broke.

They met with administrators from around campus to ask for donations, securing the first from the College of Engineering, where Clough earned a bachelor’s 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. 

They 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. 

“It was great seeing his face change from shock, to amusement, to gratitude,” said Zack Dunda, a 2011 alumnus who made the trip.

The 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 (“Brown-Eyed Girl” and a Monkees medley), gospel (“Amazing Grace” and “Spirit in the Sky”), and even show tunes (“Nothing Like a Dame” from South Pacific).

“We get bored singing the same thing all the time, so we like to mix it up,” Johnson said. The set did evoke tears from Clough, as both Johnson and Dunda had predicted it might.

Clough earned his degree from Georgia Tech in 1964 and served as president from 1994–2008. 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. 

“There’s a mythos of how awesome he is that permeates campus,” Johnson said. After the reception, Clough spent about an hour with Glee Club members, posing for selfies and signing Tech memorabilia. 

The 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. 

On Tuesday’s return flight, a flight attendant asked the group for an encore performance.

“When the flight attendant asks if you’ll perform over the PA, the only answer is yes,” Dunda said. The group performed two Christmas carols for passengers. 

As 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.

“It’s great to have something like the Glee Club to take your mind off the daily grind of Tech life,” he said. “It really helped me get involved, meet people, grow in leadership, and improve my interpersonal skills. Even for alumni, it’s great to still have that connection.”

Despite having just one two-hour rehearsal prior to the Smithsonian reception, Dunda said, it was the best he’d heard the group sound since he joined in 2007.