This post was written by Hatchet reporter Marielle Mondon.
After three days of voting, 70 percent of participating seniors selected the Gelman Library Renovation Fund as their class gift recipient.
A total of 500 seniors voted via text message, a new method for this year’s senior class.
“This is the first year that we decided to conduct the vote via text message,” senior class gift chair Kelley Stokes said in an e-mail. “We did this because we thought it would encourage all seniors to vote by making voting as easy and convenient as possible.”
Other gift options included a donation to Smith Center renovations, funding for new student organizations and a senior spirit fund. The remaining 30 percent of the senior vote was split fairly evenly between the other options, Stokes said.
“We will be meeting with members of the Gelman Library staff in the coming weeks to flesh out which initiative our gift will support directly,” Stokes said. “It is going to be a mutual conversation, just like any other conversation with a donor would go, so that we can make sure the funds will be used in the most efficient way possible.”
In addition to deciding on a class gift, Stokes said that some members of the senior class have already made donations to areas of their choice, like student organizations, student aid, academic departments and athletic teams.
“Although we haven’t started actively soliciting seniors yet, over 50 seniors have already given to the parts of the university that mean the most to them,” Stokes said.
