Cheers and applause resounded throughout the Top of the Hop last night as the College surpassed its goal of $500,000 in the final hours of the annual student telethon, setting a new record for alumni contributions.
More than $515,000 was raised, the highest level of donations ever generated in the 18-year history of the telethon. The telethon began Jan. 16 and concluded last night.
The previous record of $485,000 was set in 1991.
"The success of this telethon is directly attributable to the incredible work of the student interns," Alumni Fund officer Joe Wentworth '91 said.
"We had a core group of students who showed up often," said Chris Umscheid '94, a student director for the telethon. "About five or six of them raised a combined $160,000."
"The high student turnout definitely helped us reach our goal," Umscheid said.
Over 275 callers worked throughout the telethon, many of them coming back several times, said Mitch Jacobs '94, a telethon director.
Money raised from the telethon is used toward the Alumni Fund portion of the Will to Excel Capital Campaign, which pays for the general budget, faculty salaries and campus facilities development.
With two years to go, the five-year Capital Campaign has raised $310 million, nearly 75 percent of its $425 million goal.
"We had a lot of help from the undergraduate and graduate steering committees," Jacobs said. "The number we achieved is representative of the enthusiasm and dedication of the callers."
Other telethon directors were equally pleased.
"Our efforts to draw in the whole student body helped us a lot," Betsy Hawkanson '94, another telethon director, said. "We offered lots of different prizes and theme nights to appeal to a broad range of students," she added.
Prizes were awarded to the students who collected the most pledges. The first place winner will choose among a set of skis, four tickets to the television show "Saturday Night Live," with a cast party to follow, or a weekend getaway to Montreal.
Unofficial results available last night named Ashley Campion '94 as the leading caller with 273 pledges. Nicole Schmidt '94 came in second with 226 pledges and Zenaida De La Rosa '92 received third place with 213 pledges.
De La Rosa raised $41,699, the highest individual amount, according to Hawkanson. Campion and Schmidt raised $33,767 and $30,034 respectively.
