The Class of 2018 Gives Back

By Kyle Hornyak, June 15, 2018
Graduating seniors raised over $8,000 to enhance the IC experience.

The Class of 2018 stepped up to support the Senior Class Gift Campaign. Thanks to the efforts of the Senior Class Gift Committee, 440 senior class donors raised $8,772 to enrich and enhance the IC experience for current and future students.

For 37 years, graduating seniors have contributed to their class’s campaign to make a collective gift to the college. The philanthropic priority for the campaign is the IC Annual Fund, and the majority of seniors chose to allocate their gift accordingly, supporting the entire IC experience. Gifts to the IC Annual Fund go right to where they’re needed most, when they’re needed most — technology resources, financial help for students, guest lecturers, student organizations, on-campus wellness services, athletics, and more — to make students’ time on campus the best it can be.

For each senior who made a gift, the Alumni Association Board of Directors also gave a $25 gift to the IC Annual Fund.

The co-chairs of the 2018 Senior Class Gift Committee were Angela Poffenbaugh, a journalism major, and Sage Van Amerongen, an integrated marketing communications major.

“The senior class gift is incredibly important because it signifies so much more than a monetary gift,” said Poffenbaugh. “It signifies the gratitude and joy that peers in my class feel toward IC. Words can’t describe the excitement I feel when I look at this class and think, ‘Someday, these people are going to be wildly successful, and I can’t wait to say how I knew them as they grew into adulthood at Ithaca College.’”

The campaign was formally recognized at the Senior Class Donor Luncheon on May 18, which was attended by senior class donors, trustees, members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, college leadership, and President Shirley M. Collado. Collado extended her congratulations to the senior class, reflecting on how this year’s campaign coincides with the 125th anniversary of the college’s founding.

“You have one foot in the past 125 years and one foot in the next 125 years,” said Collado. “Your philanthropy this year to the Senior Class Gift Campaign sustains the wonderful experience that you are just now completing as a student on our campus. And your philanthropy preserves the quality of the IC experience for thousands more in the years ahead.”

Alumni Association Board of Directors President Tsugumi “Ami” Maki ’94 encouraged the class to stay engaged with their alma mater.

“The senior class gift signifies the culmination of your undergraduate education, but it is just the beginning of what I truly hope will be an everlasting connection with the place that has been your home for the past four years,” said Maki. “You will always be a part of this tremendous community. We are so excited to welcome you as alumni, and we know that you will continue to invest your time, talent and treasure to build the IC legacy.”

The Senior Class Gift Campaign kicked off on December 1 and culminated on May 16 with Senior Splash, another cherished IC tradition, where graduating seniors jump into Dillingham fountain to celebrate the close of their undergraduate careers.

Learn more about the Senior Class Gift Campaign or make a gift: