Class of 2002 presents $86,509 gift

BY JIA-RUI CHONG

At Saturday's Class Day luncheon, the chairs of the Class of 2002 Senior Gift handed President John Hennessy a check of $86,509.16 for The Stanford Fund. Half of the money in The Stanford Fund goes toward financial aid, the other half to enhancements to undergraduate education such as freshman and sophomore seminars, Sophomore College and improvements in dormitory computer clusters.

President John Hennessy accepted the senior gift from the senior gift and pledge chairs, left to right, Nick Larson, Pei-Pei Lin, Tea Trumbic, Patrick Crosetto and Renuka George. Photo: L.A. Cicero

Patrick Crosetto, one of the Senior Gift and Pledge chairs, said the sagging economy made it a tough year. "So few of our classmates had jobs, so it was hard to solicit money when they had no job or secure source of income," he said.

Nevertheless, 42 percent of seniors wrote checks this year. While the participation rate is down from 46 percent in 2001 and the record 78 percent in 2000, Crosetto said this year's Senior Gift chairs focused on getting contributions over $20. "We wanted to make it a more meaningful gift," Crosetto said.

With only two people contributing less than $20, the Class of 2002 raised about $6,000 more than last year. Many seniors gave $20.02, with the two cents tacked on to round out their year of graduation.

But the strategy of the 2002 Senior Gift and Pledge Campaign, led by Crosetto, Renuka George, Nick Larson, Pei-Pei Lin and Tea Trumbic, has not been about one-upping last year's class. Cathy Peat, assistant director of student development, explained that the chairs worked on cultivating longer-term commitments.

"There was a more collaborative approach, starting with last year. Instead of beating years past, they had conversations about the importance of annual giving with a better understanding about The Stanford Fund," she said.

As a result, 211 seniors, a record number, signed pledges to give to Stanford again next year, Crosetto said. "Part of the Senior Gift is establishing a giving pattern back to the university."