2008 Woodie Awards
Senior class gift rakes in big donations
Tirza Austin
Issue date: 5/8/08 Section: News
A controversy about whether seniors should put their class gift contributions toward a new lounge for the Stamp Student Union hasn't stopped students from giving.
Ryan Ples, a supervisor for the Tell-A-Terp fundraising center, said the controversy, which flared three months ago when some students argued the lounge was a waste of student donations, drew more attention to the gift. And in an ironic way, he said, it inspired more students to give to it.
Seniors donated $22,020 to the gift this year, a jump from the $14,650 the class of 2007 collected last year to build a park off campus. Ples said the increase in donations will mean the union will pay less money to complete the project, which is estimated to cost $25,000. The lounge was originally conceived to include a flat-screen TV, sofas and artwork in a lobby in the Union.
"[Students] are really buying into the fact that this is the last chance to give back," Ples said. "They see the significance of giving back in the other campus gifts around campus."
Ples said the center also experimented with an incentive that rewarded students for paying with a credit card, and added that doubling the pledge request from $50 to $100 this year contributed highly to increased donations.
"We did that because we had a large and positive response," Ples explained.
But not everyone bought into the lounge idea. Senior journalism and Spanish major Melanie Lidman, a former Diamondback columnist, said she chose not to give to the foundation because the school could use seniors' money for better causes.
"I chose not to give because it's silly, I don't want to leave a lounge," Lidman said. "I don't think I would have given a lot, but I would have given something."
Aryeh Rotenberg, a senior civil engineering major, said he hasn't given any money to the gift and hasn't noticed any of friends giving either. As he looks toward graduation, he said he's focused on the high price of his out-of-state tuition.
"Right now I'm not thinking about the class gift," Rotenberg said. "Let's just say it's not on my priority list right now."
Still, Rob Toll, the commencement speaker from the senior class council, said students should be thinking about the university as they prepare to leave it.
"The purpose of the class gift is leaving something behind," Toll said. "It's all about representation. I was happy to contribute."
taustindbk@gmail.com
Ryan Ples, a supervisor for the Tell-A-Terp fundraising center, said the controversy, which flared three months ago when some students argued the lounge was a waste of student donations, drew more attention to the gift. And in an ironic way, he said, it inspired more students to give to it.
Seniors donated $22,020 to the gift this year, a jump from the $14,650 the class of 2007 collected last year to build a park off campus. Ples said the increase in donations will mean the union will pay less money to complete the project, which is estimated to cost $25,000. The lounge was originally conceived to include a flat-screen TV, sofas and artwork in a lobby in the Union.
"[Students] are really buying into the fact that this is the last chance to give back," Ples said. "They see the significance of giving back in the other campus gifts around campus."
Ples said the center also experimented with an incentive that rewarded students for paying with a credit card, and added that doubling the pledge request from $50 to $100 this year contributed highly to increased donations.
"We did that because we had a large and positive response," Ples explained.
But not everyone bought into the lounge idea. Senior journalism and Spanish major Melanie Lidman, a former Diamondback columnist, said she chose not to give to the foundation because the school could use seniors' money for better causes.
"I chose not to give because it's silly, I don't want to leave a lounge," Lidman said. "I don't think I would have given a lot, but I would have given something."
Aryeh Rotenberg, a senior civil engineering major, said he hasn't given any money to the gift and hasn't noticed any of friends giving either. As he looks toward graduation, he said he's focused on the high price of his out-of-state tuition.
"Right now I'm not thinking about the class gift," Rotenberg said. "Let's just say it's not on my priority list right now."
Still, Rob Toll, the commencement speaker from the senior class council, said students should be thinking about the university as they prepare to leave it.
"The purpose of the class gift is leaving something behind," Toll said. "It's all about representation. I was happy to contribute."
taustindbk@gmail.com
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Turtle Bob
posted 5/08/08 @ 1:52 PM EST
A more enduring class gift might be something like a gas-log fireplace, except instead of fake logs, a sofa, so that in the future when a Terps team wins a big game, instead of setting fire to a real sofa, students and fans can gather around the gas-sofa and safely light it up. (Continued…)
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