Senior Gift Program Gives Back

By Liz Wassmann

The words "senior gift" typically conjure images of engraved benches or plaques by fountains, but not at Santa Clara. Here, the senior gift means cold, hard cash coupled with alumni donations that all go to programs chosen by the donor  

An alumnus has decided that for every percent of the senior class that donates to the senior gift, they will  give an additional $1,000. So, if half the class contributes, $50,000 will be given in addition to the student donations. 

Even better, when a student donates, he or she can choose where the money goes. If you're on the crew team, you can choose to give your money back to the team. If you went on a Global Fellows internship, you can support that program. Or you can just check the box for the Santa Clara Fund, which students can apply to for extra money for activities. 

"Senior Gift has become a wonderful tradition at Santa Clara, and it's so neat to see so many students show their support for (Santa Clara) by giving back to a program they were passionate about their past four years," explained Katherine Nicholson , the Assistant Director of the Santa Clara Fund. Nicholson works with the members of the Senior Gift Committee, a group of about 30 seniors who are organizing the program. 

Last year, about 40 percent of the senior class donated. While this is a big number, an even bigger impact can be made if everyone strives to help in any way they can. Even if it's just a few dollars, each additional student that donates goes a long way towards raising the overall percentage of the class that donates. 

This year the goal is to get at least half the class to give a few dollars back to our school. Seniors have the opportunity to donate at all the spring quarter senior events, like the Life After SCU speaker series, Senior Nights at Locatelli and senior bar nights at places like The Hut or The Claran Senior Night (coming up on April 23). People that donate can also get Santa Clara trinkets like bottle openers, glasses or beer steins. 

The senior gift is a perfect time to make a big impact with a limited college budget. Because a thousand dollars is added for every percent of seniors who participate, even a small amount of money will grow drastically.