The death of Professor Tupperman at Cal Tech opens up a tenured position. Leonard, Sheldon, Raj and Kripke each have different reasons for wanting the tenure opening. They believe the best way to secure this goal is to schmooze those on the tenure committee, which includes Director of Employee Relations, Janine Davis, who Sheldon in particular had a previous bad experience. But the most effective schmoozing may be done at Professor Tupperman's memorial, where the entire committee will be in attendance. While significant others in their lives support their respective man in whatever way they can, Howard does whatever he can to ensure a cat-fight between his friends.