Senior gift greatly benefits underclassmen

By Amanda Melchor     2/12/09 6:00pm

As I struggle with the many obligations of senior year - completing classes, getting ready for graduation, finding a job and somehow managing to enjoy the last semester of college - I find myself engaging in one senior duty that I have never thought I would participate in: senior gift.A senior gift at Rice is essentially money raised by seniors that is given to the Rice Annual Fund to be used for things that directly impact student life: new Recreation Center equipment, scholarships and other student needs. Though a senior gift is nice in theory, as an underclassman and even well into my senior year, I always wondered why graduating seniors were expected to give money as a "gift." Why, after four years of paying money for tuition, housing, books and other university fees, should seniors be required to pay more money when most do not have jobs yet and, in some cases, will not for a few years?

When I was first asked to think about giving a senior gift to the annual fund and later asked to get other seniors to do the same, my initial mental response was, "Uh, no," for all the reasons listed above. Hadn't I and the rest of the senior class already given Rice enough in monetary support, good publicity and word-of-mouth since matriculation?

Not to mention the loads of construction we have endured. And then to add insult to monetary injury, it felt as the though the amount I planned to give wouldn't go where I wanted it to. Yes, it would go to the university that I admit has given me much, but not necessarily to the college or organizations I belonged to and felt strongly about.

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But after mulling over these issues, I decided to donate to the senior gift fund for a variety of reasons. Although my donation may not go back to my particular college or club, any money I would give back to Rice as part of a senior gift would still be important. Giving money back to Rice is a way of supporting the university after we leave. No longer will current graduating seniors be able to support Rice in the way that we currently love to as students, whether this is by attending Rice athletic events on a regular basis or being a part of Rice clubs. In addition to the shift in dynamics, the percentage of alumni that choose to give back to the university factors into the ranking systems like those of the U.S. News and World Report. As Rice attempts to maintain and improve its ranking and appeal to prospective students, it is important that students contribute in any way they can to show what a great place the university is.

But this year there was a particularly great reason to participate in a senior gift that convinced me to sign a five-year pledge to give money to Rice. As a way to encourage seniors across campus to donate to the senior gift program, alumni from all nine colleges have designed a variety of incentives to encourage seniors to give. For example, a Hanszen alumnus has pledged to give $50 directly to the college for every senior that makes a multi-year pledge to the annual fund and to install a permanent barbeque area in our quad if 75 percent of the Hanszen senior class participates. While every college's incentives are different, colleges can use these instances to supplement their reduced budgets and will be able to use the money for whatever the college needs, like a barbecue pit in the quad or deck furniture.

This new addition to the senior gift donation adds another reason for graduating seniors to donate to Rice, besides admission to an April block party, Senior Pub Night and a Beer Stein. Through their donations, students will not only give money that will go to the university as a whole but will also help ensure that their respective colleges reap the benefits of their donations. How can we seniors, as current students, deny funds to our fellow classmates that they can enjoy directly and almost immediately?

Now is the time for seniors to give back to Rice, since they have a chance to leave legacies not only for their colleges, but for the university as a whole.

Amanda Melchor is a Hanszen College senior and opinion editor.

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