Senior Gift Challenge aims for participation
The graduating class of 2005 at Utah State University will be the first class in more than a decade to present the university with a senior class gift due to the Senior Gift Challenge.
Starting next semester, each senior will be asked to donate $20.05, in recognition of the year 2005, to the senior class gift fund, said Lucia Rhodes, Aggie Connection program manager.
“Giving back is a concept we really haven’t perceived,” Rhodes said.
But as state funding continues to decrease, Rhodes said donations by alumni are becoming more and more critical to colleges and the university as a whole. The Senior Gift is one way to start students recognize the importance of giving back even before they leave, she said.
“Most of us are unaware that our tuition only covers 16 percent of the education we receive, and state funding goes down every year,” she said. “Alumni are critical to scholarships. Every student benefits in some way from support from alumni, and the best way to educate [students] about that is to let them participate in giving back before they leave.”
Katy Farley, student director of the Senior Gift Challenge Committee, said the senior gift also gives students the opportunity to be remembered in the future.
“It’s a way to make a visible impression of their time on campus,” she said. “It’s something they can bring their children back to.”
Farley said there are plaques located throughout campus that represent gifts from past graduating classes, ranging from walkways to artwork.
“Not all of us are going to be valedictorians or known all over the world,” Rhodes said. “It’s important to have the senior gift because it is an opportunity to have some lasting recognition on campus.”
Rhodes said ideas for the senior gift include a program during graduation that allows students to honor and recognize individuals who have had a positive impact on their lives, or furnishing a new lounge that may be coming to the Taggart Student Center, she said.
Darby Cowles, president of the Student Alumni Association, who also sits of the Senior Gift Challenge Committee, said another idea is to place a park bench on the Quad.
The Committee will not decide on a gift until they have a better idea of how much funding will becoming in, Cowles said. Rhodes said the decision will probably be made early next semester.
“Our hope is that it does continue to grow,” Rhodes said plans to continue the tradition of a senior gift. “Most schools who are comparable to Utah State have these types of programs and many of them do major things for their university.”
Rhodes said she hopes to see competitions between colleges in an effort to support the project.
As with any new project, Rhodes said, it is difficult to know how many students will donate. But Rhodes said she is confident the committee will meet their goal to have at least 10 percent of the graduating class contribute.
“We’re looking for numbers, not dollar amounts,” she said.
Rhodes said she understands that even asking $20 from students can be a sacrifice, and Cowles said one obstacle the Committee has found are students who are unable to donate because they have already given to their college.
“If you go to movie and buy popcorn with a date, and if you could give that up once you can honor the people you have helped you get where you are. The sacrifice is minimal,” Rhodes said.
Cowles said if 10 percent of seniors contribute, there will be $12,000 available to purchase a gift.
Rhodes said the request for money will be multi-level. The $20.05 will be requested for this year, but students will be asked to commit to donate $30 next year, and $50 the year following.
“The wonderful thing about donating to the university is you control where your money goes,” she said.
Donations made following graduation can go to an individual college, department, or even something as specific as replacing a toilet paper holder, Farley said.
Rhodes said students who participate in the Senior Gift Challenge will also be given the opportunity to become part of the Alumni Association for $5, a $30 discount she said. Discounts will continue over the next couple of years as students continue to give back.
Students who want to suggest ideas for this year’s senior gift or become part of the Senior Gift Challenge Committee should contact Katy Farley by e-mail at katfarley@cc.usu.edu
-bnelson@cc.usu.edu