CROCHETING ENGINEERING STUDENT BECOMES VIRAL SENSATION by Joel Mathis
16 | FALL 2019
Image Courtesy: ESPN
U
ntil the fall of 2019, Hailey Solomon had never been to a college football game. And the game she did attend? She only stuck around for a quarter or so. That was all it took to make her a viral sensation. Solomon, a senior in civil engineering from Oswego, was caught by ABC’s cameras during a rain delay during the KU-Oklahoma game. She sat alone, crocheting. Video of her unexpected cameo quickly rocketed around the internet, journalists tracked her down and she was featured within days on the websites of national publications like People Magazine and The Athletic. “Not all heroes wear capes,” a Minneapolis radio station declared on Twitter. After the hubbub started to die down, Solomon was amused by the attention — and trying to keep it all in perspective. “I don’t know if I’d call it fame, but it’s a popular story right now,” she said. Solomon, in fact, was at the game for purely academic reasons. Matt O’Reilly, an associate professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, was being honored by KU’s senior class with the 2019 H.O.P.E. Award, which honors an “outstanding progressive educator.” Solomon — who has worked with O’Reilly as an advisee student and research lab employee — nominated him for the award and was on hand to see him receive it. “I didn’t have any interest in the game,” she said. “I just wanted to support Doctor Matt. They caught me.” Solomon said O’Reilly encouraged her soon after she arrived at KU and quickly became overwhelmed by the demands of the engineering program.
ESPN’s tweet of Hailey Solomon knitting in the stands during the October 5, 2019, KU football game led to brief internet stardom for the civil engineering senior.
