Graduates in the Class of 2014 gave back to the College in record numbers and with a record amount this year, raising $107,000 for the Senior Class Gift.
The 1,013 students who participated represent the highest number of students to donate to the class gift in the history of the College.
“Our seniors have shown an extraordinary willingness to unite to help the College and to help the students who will follow them in the College, to their great credit,” said John W. Boyer, dean of the College. Boyer and President Robert J. Zimmer accepted a symbolic check from the students who led the effort, during a June reception at the Museum of Science and Industry for graduates and their families.
“In 2010 we broke the application record for the College, and we’ve been record-setters and record-breakers ever since,” said Joanna Kadieva, AB’14, who worked as a co-chair for the Senior Class Gift committee during her senior year.
The students raised money for the College Fund, the Dean’s Fund for Student Life and the Odyssey Scholarship Challenge. Gifts in recent years have raised money solely for the College Fund, and this is the first year that students directed their donations to additional areas of interest to them. The Odyssey Scholarship Challenge, which reduces or eliminates student loans for low- and middle-income students, was particularly popular.
The Class of 2014 gave a record $27,400 in direct donations, and reached the grand total of $107,000 with the help of challenges from alumni and trustees, including University Trustees James Crown and Paul Yovovich, AB’74, MBA’78.
Students can donate to the Senior Class Gift throughout the academic year, but momentum for creating a class-wide gift started in winter quarter and accelerated during the trips and events of senior week, when students come together to celebrate their accomplishments over the last four years.
“All of my friends knew how passionate I was about [the Senior Class Gift], and I was excited to see them join in,” Kadieva said.
—Prof. Jacqueline Stewart
