This year's senior class seems set to surpass the Class of 2005 in its fundraising efforts.
The organizers of this year's senior gift drive hope to collect $60,000 by the end of the academic year. The same goal was set for last year but was not reached, although organizers said the goal seems more attainable for the Class of 2006.
Meredith Seidel, assistant director of student advancement for the Penn Fund and a 2004 College graduate, said that this year's picture looks much brighter. The drive is two months ahead of the Class of 2005 in terms of the number of donors. As of the beginning of this week, 140 seniors had donated $5,100 in total.
Unlike past years, this year's money is destined for the Penn Fund, the University's undergraduate unrestricted annual giving program. Instead of going toward a specific project, the money will be allocated toward any project the Penn Fund directors deem necessary.
"We have to give to the areas that really need it, not just to what we feel an affinity for," Seidel said.
This presents a large change in the way the funds are used. In 2004, the gift of the senior class went toward the construction of the courtyard outside Mark's Cafe, located in Van Pelt Library. Last year's gift went mostly toward funding scholarships, including one that was awarded to a member of the Class of 2009.
Seidel said that Penn has to have flexibility in the use of its resources, a freedom that unrestricted funding allows.
"Our money has to go to our priorities," she said.
Typically, the Penn Fund distributes 51 percent of its gifts to student financial aid, 24 percent to improving the residential experience at the University and 16 percent to academic support and student life, including clubs and learning hubs. The remaining 9 percent goes to special activities, such as the Penn Reading Project.
College senior and Class Gift Committee member Greg Meila said that because endowment money is used for investments, "giving $1 to the Penn Fund is like giving $22 to the endowment."
"Students are more likely to give money when they think it is going to help ensure the best students can come to Penn," Meila said. He added that the benefit of putting over half of the money toward financial aid is that "40 percent of Penn students wouldn't be here if it weren't for financial aid."
Students seem supportive of the idea. "I would prefer to know that my donation goes to something like financial aid," College senior Jasmine Andrews said. Considering that two out of five students receive financial aid, "it would be like investing in your friends."
Seidel said that the $39,634 cost of tuition, room and board only covers 70 percent of the cost of educating a Penn student. That is why "every senior is indebted to the University."
The senior gift drive will continue until just after graduation, and the organizers hope to get support from at least 60 percent of the senior class.
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