Harrison School of Pharmacy P1, Johanna Underwood, Gathered Encouragement for the AU Tigers Football Team
ohanna Underwood is a P1 with Auburn roots. Her parents, who are Auburn graduates, are from Lawrenceville, Georgia. While serving as Chaplin of HSOP's chapter of the Christian Pharmacists Fellowship International (CPFI), Johanna represented her faith and her fellow AU students in a big way when she decided there were too many negative remarks swirling around about our football team.
Johanna said she was listening to the radio while studying one night and started to hear disparaging talk directed at the team. It bothered her, because the players are all young students like herself. One of her friends is in a class with Kodi Burns. From him she learned that Kodi is a year younger than she. It's not unusual to think of those big guys on the football field as grown-ups with a lot more experience in the game than they actually have.
One thing for certain, Johanna was sure these young warriors didn't want to incur the wrath of the fans any more than the average student would. It was easy for her, as a fellow student, to give the team the benefit of the doubt that they were doing their best under the circumstances they were dealt this year; a new coach and his new spread offense, numerous injuries, and for some, their first time playing college football in front of a huge fan base like Auburn's.
These thoughts led to a special project. Johanna made up a booklet and got signatures from about 50 HSOP students to let the team know they were being supported by their fellow students. She delivered it to the Athletic Department right before the West Virginia Game. Although she doesn't know if the team saw it immediately, she learned from some friends who were given a tour of the locker room in late October, that the booklet was prominently displayed there.
And that's not the end of the story. On October 21, Dean Evans was pleasantly surprised when a personal email came to the School from Coach Tommy Tuberville.Harrison School of Pharmacy - Support for our Football Team,
Thank you so much for sending the notebook showing support for our football team. I can't tell you what it means to have the support of the other schools and departments on campus. I am having this booklet put up in the locker room so the players can see how much their fellow students support them. War Eagle!! TommyTommy Tuberville
Head Football Coach
Auburn University
Auburn, AL 36830War Eagle to all the student Pharmacists who signed Johanna's petition, to Johanna, and to CPFI. And, as Dean Evans said, "Good work!"