Taylor Swift Donates $10,000 To School For The Deaf

The contest, which was presented by textbook rental company Chegg and Papa John’s, was open to accredited colleges and high schools in the 48 continental U.S. states. Along with the grand prize of an intimate acoustic concert from Swift, the top five schools with the most votes each received a $10,000 grant for their music department. According to the Boston Globe, Horace Mann School For The Deaf And Hard of Hearing in Alton, Mass., was removed from the contest “because of the way it got its votes.”

The prank was started by users on the imageboard website 4chan and then picked up by Reddit. Although the stunt originally began as a mean-spirited joke, others began voting for Horace Mann to help do something nice for the students. Because even if the Internet trolls thought they were just so clever, many people who are deaf or hard of hearing can still enjoy music through vibrations and visuals.

And while Horace Mann wasn’t one of the official winners of the contest, the school still earned a bunch of prizes. The Boston Globe reports that Swift gave the school a personal donation of $10,000. Chegg and Papa John’s each matched the donation, in addition to $10,000 from Cover Girl and $10,000 from American Greetings. VH1’s Save the Music program threw in $10,000 in instruments for the students. Finally, Swift promised that the next time she tours the area, every student at the school will receive a ticket.

The school that won the Taylor Swift on campus performance is Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, Calif.