What will the 2016 Class Gift be?
Friday marks the last day for seniors to get their votes in
All this week, seniors planning on graduating in May, August, or December of 2016 are able to vote for their choice of the 2016 Class Gift.
The Class Gift Committee has a booth set up in the HUB-Robeson Center for students to cast their ballots as to what they think should be the Class Gift of 2016. Voting begins at 11am and ends at 2pm, Monday through Friday.
According to Alissa Janoski, class gift committee director of marketing, this year’s finalists amongst 200+ proposed ideas include a mural to represent Penn State’s diversity, a mosaic depicting the University’s rich tradition, or an endowment dedicated to creating a permanent and continuous source of funding towards Penn State’s Counseling and Psychological Services.
“While all three finalists are cool, I personally feel as if the donation towards the Counseling and Psychological services is the best option. It’s the only one that directly benefits students,” said Phil Kotcamp, a senior planning to graduate next May.
Penn State’s Center of Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) is designed to help students resolve personal concerns that may affect academics, social development, and overall happiness at Penn State. A few of their services include group therapy, individual counseling, and crisis intervention.
A donation to CAPS would help ensure that accessible and timely care is available to all students should they need it.
Connor Carey, on the other hand, wants to celebrate Penn State’s diversity and voted for the mural: “During my time at Penn State, I’ve met people from seemingly all walks of life, which is something I love about this school.”
“It has provided me a better understanding of people and their varying perspectives,” he said.
The artistic mural, which would be drawn to represent Penn State’s diverse population in all of its fascinating aspects, would be placed in the HUB if chosen.
Dan Young, a senior from the Philadelphia area, has other ideas to what he thinks the class gift should be.
“Nothing against the finalists, but I believe the money could best be used in other ways.”
“Thousands of students here struggle financially. I would like to see it be used to fund new scholarships or other financial support,” he said.
Dan’s class gift proposal makes sense, having been done by many previous graduating classes. In fact, for thirteen straight years, from 1970 through 1983, the gradating classes voted for unrestricted college support as their class gifts, which included creating scholarships such as the Renaissance Scholarship and the Kevin Steinberg Memorial Scholarship in 1970 and 1978, respectively.
The Class Gift Committee will reveal the gift selected by the class of 2016 next Wednesday, October 14th at 1pm on the ground floor of the HUB.
“There will be food and guest speakers to help announce the gift that 2016 has selected as theirs,” said Chris Durkin, who serves as the Director of Events.
“We wanted to create an event for the gift announcement to get the class of 2016 excited about what legacy they will leave behind.”
Amelia Whiting, Director of Student Outreach, said: “I’m excited about the gift announcement because seniors will get to learn how our class will give back to Penn State.”
“It will be a great time to learn more about the Class Gift Campaign and how to ‘start your legacy.’”
Penn State seniors have a rich tradition of honorably donating a class gift, dating all the way back to 1861.
The idea of the Class Gift is simple: promoting a charitable spirit amongst the graduating class, proving an opportunity to leave an iconic mark on the University that they will forever be tied to.
Previous class gifts include the legendary Nittany Lion shrine, thousands of library books, an aquarium displayed in the HUB, the “We Are” sculpture found near the intersection of Curtain Road and University Drive, and the HUB green roof terrace.
The gift is generally funded by the $100 general deposit all students were required to make upon admission to Penn State.
According to Penn State, “the deposit serves to safeguard the property and equipment used by students during their career at Penn State and is held until graduation.”
“It covers any unpaid charges applied to the student account, such as Health services, fitness passes, etc.”
At the end of your senior year, students can have their deposit returned to them or they can choose to pledge it to the Class Gift. Typically, nearly 3,000 students a year make a pledge of some amount to the Class Gift Campaign. Seniors who pledge their general deposits to the Class Gift Campaign by October 9th will have their vote counted twice.
Those unable to make it to the HUB can also vote online here.
Other notable class gifts include: