The Class of 1960 has agreed to donate $200,000 to the Dartmouth College Fund in the name of the Class of 2010, which it had promised to do if the graduating class achieved 100 percent participation, despite the fact that not every member of the Class of 2010 donated to the Senior Class Gift, Dartmouth College Fund executive director Sylvia Racca said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
Donations from the senior class amounted to a Senior Class Gift of $10,000, with a record of 99 percent of seniors donating, according to Racca.
Although student volunteers involved with the Senior Class Gift declined to divulge the exact number of students who had not donated, an e-mail from a Senior Class Gift volunteer obtained by The Dartmouth noted that 99.9 percent of seniors had donated, and that only one senior had not donated.
The Class of 1960 partnered with the Class of 2010 through Class Connections an informal relationship between current undergraduate classes and the returning 50-year reunion class, according to the Dartmouth College Office of Alumni Relations web site.
The Class of 1960 pledged to donate $1,000 to the Dartmouth College Fund for every 1 percent of the seniors or approximately ten students that donated to the fund. The Class of 1960 initially agreed to double its gift to $200,000 if 100 percent of the Class of 2010 donated, the Class of 1960 representative James Adler '60 said in an interview.
Partner alumni classes have matched the Senior Class Gift for about six years, but have never doubled their donations before this year, according to Racca.
"[The Class of 1960] really wanted to reward the class for a terrific job," Racca said.
Also for the first time, an anonymous donor also matched the contribution of each Greek organization that achieved 100 percent participation in the Senior Class Gift, according to Racca.
Adler said he received a call from a College official last week informing him that the seniors had broken the previous donation record, with donations from 97 percent of seniors. The official requested that the Class of 1960 double its donation regardless of whether the senior class achieved its goal of 100 percent participation.
"To get the Dartmouth student body, or any student body, to agree 100 percent on anything is impossible," Adler said. "You don't have to get every single student to get a huge success. It's great to ask for money for Dartmouth with great enthusiasm, but you don't want to take it too far."
Approximately 70 students volunteered to solicit donations for the Senior Class Gift, according to Racca. These students personally contacted their peers to request donations, Racca said.
Student volunteers stopped actively soliciting donations on Monday, although the group is still accepting donations if seniors choose to give, Racca said.
Senior Class Gift donations go directly to the Dartmouth College Fund, which "advances the Dartmouth Experience" by supporting financial aid and academic and athletic programs, according to the College's website.
The goal of the Senior Class Gift is to "educate [the] Class about philanthropy, the importance of the Dartmouth College Fund, and the needs of the College," according to the Senior Class Gift website.
