Hundreds of Auburn students gathered in the AUSC ballroom Wednesday evening, standing in line for tickets, looking for seats and waiting patiently for the UPC speaking event to start.
On almost every foot, in almost every direction could be seen the same style of canvas loafer, a badge that signified the crowd's devotion to the cause of speaker Blake Mycoskie, the entrepreneur and philanthropist founder of TOMS Shoes.
"I've heard about it before and it's an interesting thing and that's why I got the shoes in the first place," said James Heustis, graduate student. "It's a good cause and I figured I'd listen to him speak."
Mycoskie's revolutionary business model includes giving away a pair of shoes to a child in need for every pair that his company sells.
The TOMS company was honored in 2009 for corporate excellence by the U.S. secretary of state and has given away over 500,000 pairs of shoes since the company's formation in 2006.
"Business and charity used to have to be these two very separate things," Mycoskie said. "TOMS has brought them together."
Mycoskie's engagement at Auburn was just one stop in a nationwide college tour to promote One Day Without Shoes. The One Day campaign asks participants to go shoeless on April 18 to raise awareness of the TOMS cause and to draw attention to the plight of the more underdeveloped parts of the world.
"I think you really can have a job and do something you're really passionate about that makes an impact on the world, and make money and do all the things you need to do when you get out of college," Mycoskie said. "It's really important to me to take that message to hopefully inspire people to think differently about their work and their life and how they can do both in a way that they're going to be happier."
The TOMS founder's speech included an informational slide show and a history of the rising company from its inspirational inception to its current day charity efforts. Mycoskie also took time for a question and answer session with students and met with many of them personally after the speaking event.
"We wanted to bring someone who we felt would connect with the Auburn student body," said Anne Smead, UPC special projects director.
The 33-year-old Mycoskie's popularity with Auburn students fit the program council's search exactly.
"We had an almost sold-out house," Smead said. "People were waiting for wristbands when I got here at 4:30 to set up."
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