Syracuse University’s Class of 2010 has raised about $10,138 so far for its senior class giving campaign, breaking the initial goal of $10,000.

‘It’s a way for the senior class to get involved and give back to the community that gave us so much,’ said Carlye Eder, a senior supply chain management and accounting major and one of the co-chairs for the senior class giving campaign.

The Class of 2010 is collecting money from seniors, family members and friends. This year’s giving campaign, called ‘Class Act 2010,’ lets people give any desired amount, but students were encouraged to give $20.10 because of the year they are graduating, Eder said. Donors can dedicate their contribution to any area of the university they want, instead of supporting one centralized gift.

The campaign began in January and will run past commencement weekend. There were no set start or end times. So far, the campaign has received 112 donations. Ninety-three of these donations are from seniors, and 19 came from family members and friends of seniors. The donations ranged from $5 to $500, said Mussadiq Akram, a senior chemical engineering and international relations major and a co-chair for the campaign.

As of May 10, most of the campaign’s 24 gifts went to the College of Human Ecology. The next highest recipient was the Annual Fund for Syracuse with 16 donations. The third-highest recipient was the L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science with 12 donations. SU Abroad, E.S. Bird Library, other individual colleges, SU Athletics and WAER also received donations, Akram said.

‘I think it’s a good way to give back to a community that has given me so much over four years,’ Akram said. ‘And I can give in a way that I want, which is cool. I can leave an impact long after I’ve gone.’

He said he gave his gift to the chemical engineering department because some of his best memories of college are of the ‘countless’ hours he spent with his friends doing work in Link Hall.

Eder gave a donation to her program and SU Abroad because she wanted to let future students have the same opportunities she did, she said.

‘It’s more beneficial to give a gift that is most meaningful to them,’ Eder said. ‘You can give to something that you took a lot out of. I think the most beneficial way to give back is to give a gift.’

‘Going abroad was one of the best experiences I had in college,’ she said. ‘It was eye-opening. It’s something I want to keep going and give the opportunity in the future.’

She said she gave to her majors in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management because they aren’t well known and she learned so much from them. ‘It’s really important when some of these majors aren’t as popular as others,’ she said.

The 2010 Class Council was inspired by the Class of 2009, which was the first to bring the senior gift back since the Class of 1995. Unlike this year’s class, the Class of 2009 had a specific scholarship set up, although people could give to other areas in the university. The Class of 2009 had 40 seniors that gave and 38 family members and friends that donated on a senior’s behalf. They raised a total of $2,400, $1,100 of which went to the scholarship, said Tammy Schlafer, the executive director for annual giving programs.

Kara Minutoli, a senior secondary education and biology major, said she gave to The Dean’s Scholarship Fund in the School of Education. She said she donated to that fund because she wanted to give future students the chance to study education.

She thinks SU could have done a better job advertising the campaign because only some of the senior class participated, she said.

‘A lot more kids would donate if they knew what they were donating to,’ she said. ‘I think it’s a great idea.’

Some of the challenges the campaign faced were starting later than the organizers wanted, students not wanting to give because they didn’t have money, getting the word out and students understanding what the campaign was about, said Eder, Akram and Abby Paulson, a senior communications and rhetorical studies major and a committee member.

‘It was hard getting students to understand that even though they pay tuition, tuition only covers about 85 percent of the year’s costs,’ Paulson said.

She said she gave to help protect the value of her degree.

‘I look at it as the U.S. News and World Report does a ranking,’ she said. ‘One thing they rank on is the amount of alumni that give. I want to protect my degree and I don’t want to see our ranking slip more than it has already.’

The committee members said they hope giving a senior gift stays an annual tradition and part of being a senior. They said they hope someday the donation begins freshman year. The biggest thing the committee said they hoped for is that future classes don’t forget about the senior gift.

krkoerti@syr.edu
 

Published on May 11, 2010 at 12:00 pm