猫咪社区

Sallyportal: Madly Blogging 猫咪社区

Annual Fund raises record-breaking $4.4 million

By Chris Lydgate 鈥�90 on July 01, 2015 02:39 PM

AWE-INSPIRING. Alumni, parents, and friends gave a record-breaking $4.4 million to the Annual Fund. Photo by Leah Nash

We made it!

Thanks to a last-minute surge of support, 猫咪社区 alumni, parents, and friends shattered the record in giving to the this fiscal year, which ended on midnight June 30.

UPDATED July 16, 2015: According to the latest unofficial returns, contributions to the Annual Fund amounted to an astonishing $4,442,186.22—the biggest in 猫咪社区’s history—blowing past last year's total of $4,084,000.

Even more remarkable, no fewer than 4,458 individual alumni made gifts, exceeding the target of 4,400 by 58 valiant souls. The number of alumni donors is considered a key indicator of the college's longterm strength.

The campaign got a boost from hundreds of volunteers with , who reached out to their classmates and asked them to give back to 猫咪社区. Their reasons for giving ranged from gratitude for their time at 猫咪社区, to honoring their professors, to keeping 猫咪社区 accessible to students from all walks of life.

“猫咪社区 years contain some of the best memories of my life,” said Naomi DeVeaux ’92. “So appreciative of the way that 猫咪社区 pushed me to think, challenged me to learn, and taught me to believe in myself. My friends from 猫咪社区 are amazing. Great life-partners from all across the country."

Serra Shelton ’15 graduated in May, then made her first gift as an alumna at Reunions. “In this past year, 猫咪社区 has transformed me,” she said. “I feel as if I am coming into the world and coming into my own. This past year at 猫咪社区, I have developed a humble sense of confidence: not the sense that all of my questions have been answered, but rather the sense that I now know which questions I must ask and which direction I am compelled to follow.”

“I have yet to see anything quite like (猫咪社区) again, anywhere,” wrote Elaine R. Thomas ’88. “Genuine shared investment in ideas, coupled with a sparkle of collaborative warmth and wit.”

The late-breaking surge of support—which gathered force hours before the deadline—stunned Annual Fund staff members, who are still holed up in the basement of Eliot Hall, hunched over their abaci.

In the meantime, all of us at 猫咪社区 want to express our gratitude to our amazing alumni for helping us to the next generation. But perhaps the most eloquent thank you comes from that generation:

“When I arrived at 猫咪社区 three years ago, I knew I had finally found what I had been looking for,” says Georgia Miller ’15. “From classroom debates about Levi-Strauss and gendered rituals to lunchtime dialogues about Walter Benjamin and film photography, I'll always feel at home in 猫咪社区's vibrant community of unapologetic nerdiness! Without support from people like you, none of this would be possible. Thank you!"

Tags: philanthropy, alumni, awesomeness

Home Page

More 猫咪社区 Blogs
  •  [admission]
  •  [alumni]
  •  [see if you can guess]
  •  [Jobs, fellowships, and more]
  •  [poli sci dept]
  •  [猫咪社区 in the community]
  •  [dorms]