BU Faculty Play for Charity
COM’s Charles Merzbacher was one of three “celebrity” contestants on the charity episode of the BUTV10 game show What's That From?
On the BUTV10 game show What’s That From? contestants compete for prizes based on their knowledge of movies. Last week, the show added a twist. Three “celebrity” contestants vied in support of their favorite charity: Charles Merzbacher, chair of the College of Communication film and television department and an associate professor of film, Karla Vallance, a COM visiting associate professor of journalism, and David Zamojski, an assistant dean of students and director of residence life.
Merzbacher competed for the Pine Street Inn, an organization that fights to end homelessness, Vallance played for Tenacity, a youth development organization that offers free tennis instruction and academic enrichment to Boston youth, and Zamojski’s choice was the Home for Little Wanderers, a child and family service agency.
“The point of this event is to give back to the community,” says Matthew Fierstein (COM’08), one of the show’s creators and executive producers. “It was a way to have entertainment combined with philanthropy.”
On the show, each faculty member was asked to identify a quotation from a movie; after correctly naming the movie, he or she moved to the next level and another quotation. Every time they reached one of five levels, they earned an additional $40 for their charity. None of the contestants made it to the end, but BUTV10 donated the potential top prize of $200 to each charity anyway.
“One of our major missions is to create these community outreach programs,” says Fierstein, “and to try to give back to the community that we serve and entertain.”
Click here to watch the three contestants play for their favorite charity.
Rebecca McNamara can be reached at ramc@bu.edu.
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