Meghan Day 3

TITLE: NICE THING #3 – An Alumni Donation

DATE: February 12, 2010

EXPLANATION:
I graduated from a really small private university in the middle of nowhere Vermont that relies entirely on alumni donations to stay in operation. I was a psychology student there, a member of the School of Social Sciences, and our Department was always broke. The science departments were the money makers and the remainder of the school fed off the scraps left behind.

While I was there, I was mentored by a man named Dr. Milt Hammond (a.k.a. Doc). He became like a second father to me and I remember that he fought long and hard to establish a scholarship fund for the School of Social Sciences. He passed away in 2005, long before he ever had a chance to see the scholarship fund come to fruition.

Recently, the head of the Department sent out requests to alumni asking for donations toward their newly approved $250,000 scholarship fund.

EVENT:
I donated money to the scholarship fund, not just because I was a student there, but because it was something Doc always wanted to see happen and didn’t get a chance to.

REACTIONS:
My hope was that once the fund was in place and working, the School of Social Sciences would see an increase in its number of students. It’ll be awhile before a true reaction is seen.

WOULD I DO IT AGAIN? Yes, but only ever for the School of Social Sciences. With so little assistance from the University, it can use all the outside help it can get.

COST: $20.00

EFFORT: Writing a check and stamping an envelope.

TIME: 1 to 2 minutes, at the most