As the end of the academic year draws to a close, the campaign to raise money for the senior class gift is in full gear. The Seniors for The Hopkins Fund, the group in charge of the campaign, has received donations from 397 seniors, which amounts to $13,641, as of last Monday.
Much of those donations were directed towards the Hopkins Fund, as per the encouragement of the group to do so.
The Hopkins Fund, according to senior class council president and member of the Senior Class Gift committee Josh Ayal, is one of the most versatile of funds, and thus donations to it ensure that they are going to where they are most needed.
The main goal of the campaign, according to senior class senator and campaign co-chair Max Dworin, is to have a 100 percent participation rate with each senior giving back at least $20. So far, the proportion is in the mid 20 percent, and the seniors have up until graduation to have their donations count as a senior gift.
Last year, the participation rate was an all-time record of 45 percent.
Dworin was sure that that number could be beaten this year.
“I am very confident we will pass that this year since we are currently outpacing last year’s campaign,” he said.
He attributed the success of the campaign so far to the new strategies that have been employed.
“Our campaign has featured more communication tactics than past campaigns,” Dworin said. “We have successfully combined social media with creative videos, events and personal touches in a way that I don’t feel any other campaign has done. Past years’ themes have played on movie titles or other prominent ad campaigns, whereas our theme, I Heart Hopkins, ties directly into Hopkins,” he said.
Another way in which this year’s senior class gift differs from those in the past is that it is in the form of monetary donations.
“In the past, seniors have given concrete gifts like the blue jay stained glass window in the library,” Dworin said.
The change was made in 2006 when the then senior class realized that the senior class gift could be of better use if it were given as a cash sum.
“Five years ago, we stopped having the senior gift [be] physical objects and switched to donations,” Coordinator of Campus Programming Rachel Navarre said.
“Ever since this switch, The Hopkins Fund has usually been the first priority to donate to. We prefer it because it’s guaranteed that what we donate goes back to the students here at Homewood.”
Indeed, seniors have been encouraged to specifically donate to the Hopkins Fund, both in previous years and this year because it directly improves undergraduate life.
“The Hopkins Fund is certainly critical to a number of very important projects that directly affect nearly every student on this campus at some point or another,” Ayal said in an e-mail to The News-Letter.
However, that doesn’t mean that the seniors can only donate to the Hopkins Fund; in fact, they can donate to any student group, academic program or department they want.
“The Hopkins Fund is one fund that students can designate their donation to,” Navarre said. “But any gift made to the University will count to the senior gift.”
Seniors, including those in charge of organizing the senior class gift, were in general supportive of the idea of giving back to Hopkins as they left it.
“I find the notion of giving back to the Hopkins community compelling,” Ayal said. “I consider myself lucky to have gotten so much from the community and I believe it’s our responsibility as members of that community to give back in any way we can.”
Seniors Michael Rosenzweig and Amanda Giorgio agreed.
“I don’t think that the campaign has been effective, but I will probably donate to The Hopkins Fund because it’s always good to feel like you’re part of a community and giving back is a part of it,” Giorgio said.
Echoing on the sentiment, Rosenzweig said that he had already made a donation because he wanted to give back for the good experiences he had at Hopkins.
“I donated because I could donate to a specific department, to the one that offered the class I enjoyed the most,” Rosenzweig said.
Similarly, senior Sarah Gieszl considered her donation as a way of remembering Hopkins.
“I didn’t get a class ring, so this might be my memento for my time at Hopkins,” Gieszl said.
However, some seniors were more skeptical of the senior class gift.
Senior Andrew Wisneski believed that a few hundred dollars would not make a difference.
“We’re just students and a donation of $20 won’t do much,” Wisneski said. “I just don’t foresee how $20 from a couple hundred seniors will do much. It’s a nice gesture, but it won’t be meaningful in the long run. In the future, I would like to donate towards something more meaningful. $20 isn’t going to change anything.”
Rosenzweig attributed the fact that the senior donations don’t end up amounting to much to the low participation rate, which he in turn attributed to the fact that not everyone enjoys his time at Hopkins.
“Part of the reason they don’t get as many senior donations as they want is because every senior is different,” Rosenzweig said.
“In general, people have a wide range of opinions regarding their time at Hopkins, and for students who for one reason or another didn’t enjoy their time here, the senior class gift is not a good way of giving back,” he said.
On the other hand, Dworin, who is confident students have loved their time at Hopkins, says the committee has tried their best to constantly remind the senior class of what Hopkins meant to them.
“People should give back because it is an investment in the future of their soon-to-be alma mater,” Dworin said.
“Donations can go a long way towards making the undergraduate experience better for future generations of Hopkins students, allowing students to enroll in the University regardless of their financial situation,” he continued.
“Talking about adding value to one’s degree, just a slight rise in both our young and overall alumni giving could increase our ranking and bring us into the top 10 of the U.S News and World Report rankings,” Dworin added. “Not to mention, being philanthropic makes one feel good. I know I have felt great about this whole experience and enjoyed making my gift. What better way to leave your legacy as a Hopkins alum by giving back with both time and money?”
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