ASU Students’ Gift to Dining Hall Employee Goes Viral

Students at Arizona State University (ASU) surprised a beloved member of the dining hall staff with a dream vacation.

In 2013, Vicke Davis moved from Chicago to work at Barrett Dining Hall, the honors college at ASU. She immediately became known as a surrogate mother, offering encouragement and praise to the students frequenting the dining hall.

Quintin Woods, a sophomore biomedical engineering student, started a campaign to send Davis to visit the Northern Lights after a conversation they had last fall. “From the first time I visited, she created a welcoming presence,” Woods shared with the Today show. “She called us her ‘Barrett babies.’ She was lively. Funny. Friendly. She stood out.”

Woods started a GoFundMe campaign, which he launched on Christmas Eve to raise money to send Davis on her trip. In just 48 hours, the account raised over $2,000.  The GoFundMe account read:

“She has been working in the Barrett Dining Hall for numerous years, providing students with the utmost care and gratitude. Her daily Facebook posts have made us laugh and her hugs have made us feel warm inside. Every day Vicke comes to work with a smile on her face and the goal to make the days of each of her “babies” just that much better. Many of us will go to swipe in for a meal in the midst of a long and stressful day and Vicke will provide the caring attitude that makes our day just a little bit better. I know many of us have been touched by the kind actions of Vicke. She looks at each of us as her children.”

Woods and his fellow Barrett students presented a giant check to Davis on January 21. “This is unbelievable. I just love my Barrett babies. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Davis said after receiving the check. She plans to take her dream vacation to either Alaska or Canada during ASU’s Spring Break.