On August 26, 2025, the world of pop culture and academia collided in an unexpected way when Associate Professor Matthew Pittman of the University of Tennessee at Knoxville announced the cancellation of a biochemistry midterm, citing the breaking news of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement.
The announcement, delivered through a viral video, sparked widespread attention online, with fans and students alike dubbing Pittman the “favorite professor ever.” However, the cancellation was later revealed to be a cleverly orchestrated skit designed to engage students and connect a major cultural moment to Pittman’s teachings on social media and advertising.
The Viral Skit: A Strategic Move by a Social Media Expert
Matthew Pittman, an Associate Professor in the Tombras School of Advertising and Public Relations at the University of Tennessee, is no stranger to leveraging social media for educational purposes. His expertise lies in social media strategies, green advertising, and sustainability campaigns, and he serves as the executive director of the Adam Brown Social Media Command Center.
Pittman’s decision to “cancel” a biochemistry midterm was not a spontaneous reaction to the Swift-Kelce engagement but a carefully crafted skit aimed at engaging his students and demonstrating the power of social media virality. In the now-viral video, Pittman addresses his class with a playful tone, stating, “We’re due for a BioChem midterm today, but Taylor and Travis just got engaged. Due to this information, I can’t focus, you all can’t focus. Class is canceled, get outta here. We need time to process this information.”
The announcement was met with cheers from students, and the video, posted on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, quickly amassed millions of views. One TikTok post alone garnered nearly 200,000 likes by the evening of August 26, 2025. The caption accompanying the video on Instagram read, “Bio chem sucks, but our professor rocks. Congrats, Travis and Taylor,” further amplifying the lighthearted nature of the moment.
What made the skit particularly effective was Pittman’s ability to tie it to his academic expertise. As a professor who studies social influence, cognition, and social media, he used the engagement announcement to illustrate how cultural phenomena can be harnessed to create viral content.
The University of Tennessee’s official social media channels later clarified that the video was part of a lesson in Pittman’s social media strategy class, not a biochemistry course, debunking the initial assumption that a science midterm had been canceled. Pittman’s skit was a masterclass in engaging students by connecting a global pop culture event to classroom learning, demonstrating how social media can amplify a message and capture public attention.
The Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce Engagement: A Global Phenomenon
The catalyst for Pittman’s viral moment was the engagement announcement of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, which dominated headlines and social media on August 26, 2025. The couple, both 35, shared their news via a joint Instagram post featuring a romantic photoshoot in a rose garden, with Kelce proposing on one knee. The post, captioned “Your English teacher and your gym teacher are getting married 🧨,” quickly became one of the most-liked posts on Instagram, reportedly amassing over 18 million likes.
Read : Ethno-shock! Missing Kaura Taylor Found Living Among Remote African-Origin Community in Scotland
Pittman himself predicted in the video that the announcement would be “the number one shared post in the history of social media,” a statement that underscored the cultural magnitude of the event. Swift and Kelce’s relationship, which began in mid-2023, has been a focal point of public fascination. Swift, a 14-time Grammy winner, and Kelce, a Kansas City Chiefs tight end and three-time Super Bowl champion, have supported each other’s careers publicly.
Swift attended Chiefs games, including the 2024 and 2025 Super Bowls, while Kelce joined her on segments of her record-breaking Eras Tour. Their engagement, announced just weeks after Swift’s appearance on Kelce’s podcast New Heights, which set a Guinness World Record for the most concurrent YouTube viewers (1.3 million), further solidified their status as a power couple. The announcement also came on the heels of Swift revealing her 12th album, The Life of a Showgirl, on August 12, 2025, during the same podcast episode.
The engagement photoshoot featured Swift showcasing a diamond engagement ring estimated to be worth between $675,000 and $1 million. According to sources, the proposal took place two weeks prior, with Kelce orchestrating an intimate moment over a glass of wine before FaceTiming family members, including his father, Ed Kelce, to share the news.
The announcement’s timing, just before the start of the 2025 NFL season, added to its global impact, as fans of both Swift and Kelce celebrated the milestone across social media platforms. Pittman’s skit capitalized on this frenzy, using the engagement as a case study in how pop culture moments can drive engagement and conversation.
The Impact: Education Meets Entertainment
Pittman’s viral skit did more than entertain; it sparked a broader conversation about the role of pop culture in education and the power of social media to bridge the gap between the two. The video’s success, with millions of views across platforms, highlighted Pittman’s ability to “flex on the algorithm,” as he described in a previous interview about a 2024 viral video where he woke sleeping students with emo lyrics.
That earlier video, which amassed 57.3 million views, proved Pittman’s knack for creating content that resonates with young audiences. The Swift-Kelce skit built on this success, reinforcing his reputation as a professor who can make learning relevant and engaging. Students and online viewers praised Pittman, with comments like “And just like that, he became the favorite professor” and “This is so brilliant. I love this.”
Some even jokingly suggested he deserved an invitation to Swift and Kelce’s wedding. The University of Tennessee leaned into the moment, with its social media accounts sharing the video and emphasizing Pittman’s expertise in advertising and public relations. The university’s post noted, “But Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are, and we’ve got the ADPR take. Watch how he connects this pop culture moment to the classroom.”
The skit also highlighted the evolving role of educators in the digital age. By embracing social media, Pittman demonstrated how professors can meet students where they are, using platforms like TikTok and Instagram to make academic concepts accessible. His approach aligns with his research, which explores how social media engagement influences consumer behavior and how influencers can retain followers through emotional connections.
In this case, Pittman used the Swift-Kelce engagement to illustrate the power of social influence, showing students how a single post can dominate global conversations and how brands—or educators—can leverage such moments for impact. The broader cultural context of the engagement added to the skit’s resonance. Swift and Kelce’s relationship has transcended their respective industries, uniting music and sports fans in a way few celebrity couples have. Their engagement, announced in a carefully curated Instagram post, exemplified the kind of strategic communication Pittman teaches.
By framing the midterm cancellation as a response to this news, he created a relatable and humorous narrative that resonated with students and the public, proving that education can be both informative and entertaining. The skit also sparked discussions about the balance between academic rigor and cultural relevance. While some might question the appropriateness of canceling a midterm—even as a skit—for a celebrity engagement, Pittman’s approach was grounded in pedagogy.
His goal was not to dismiss academic responsibilities but to use a cultural moment to teach students about social media’s role in shaping public discourse. The overwhelmingly positive response from students and online audiences suggests that his strategy was effective, making complex concepts like virality and social influence tangible and memorable.
In conclusion, Matthew Pittman’s decision to “cancel” a midterm in response to Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s engagement was a brilliant blend of education and entertainment. By crafting a viral skit, he not only captured the attention of millions but also demonstrated the power of social media to connect cultural moments with academic learning.
The Swift-Kelce engagement, a global phenomenon in its own right, provided the perfect backdrop for Pittman’s lesson in social influence, proving that even a staged midterm cancellation can become a teachable moment. As social media continues to shape how we consume and process information, educators like Pittman are paving the way for innovative teaching methods that resonate with the digital generation. His viral moment at the University of Tennessee is a testament to the enduring power of pop culture and the creative potential of academia when the two intersect.