UT Professor “Cancels” Class In Viral Video After Taylor Swift–Travis Kelce Engagement News

Viral Video: When Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement on August 26, 2025, it caused a huge surge of enthusiasm. It was so big that one University of Tennessee (UT) professor funnily cancelled class to let everyone process the news. The University of Tennessee (UT) is offering "Taylor's Version" media course.

In the viral video, Associate Professor Matthew Pittman from UT Knoxville's College of Communication and Knowledge told his biochemistry class, “Taylor and Travis just got engaged. Due to this information, I can’t focus, you all can’t focus. Class is cancelled, get outta here. We need time to process this information.” The students cheered, and one even ran out of class in happiness.

The video went viral on social media and gained over 174,000 likes on Instagram.

While the joy looked to be genuine, Pittman later disclosed that the event was contrived for instructional purposes. As a public relations professor, he sought to demonstrate to his students how a single news item can shape global conversations and trends. In a follow-up video, Pittman said, "This is pretty big news." Adding that the engagement was likely to become one of the most shared postings in social media history. “It’s gonna be everywhere for a long time. This is gonna be crazy.”

Netizens Reactions

This also went viral on social media, and and gained over 1000 likes. Netizens also started dropping their comments. One user commented, "This is so awesome!! I’m a 1970 UT grad…classes not quite this fun and exciting!!" Another user said, "This is so brilliant. I love this." A third user commented, "Will we fully comprehend that she got engaged in AUGUST."

About "Taylor's Version" media course

A "Taylor's Version" media course is a college class that looks at how Taylor Swift has impact on music, copyright, and pop culture. It looks at topics including artist ownership, branding, fan culture, and how the media tells stories, and it's named after her re-recorded albums. Students examine Swift's career as a case study on creative control and contemporary celebrity influence, integrating insights from the music industry with academic viewpoints. These kinds of classes show how pop culture can be a great way to learn about media, marketing, and changes in culture in the digital age.