4/10/08

Seniors launch drive to raise funds for 2008 class gift

LAWRENCE — KU Endowment is partnering with the Board of Class Officers at the University of Kansas to raise funds from graduating students for the 2008 senior class gift.

The gift, selected by Board of Class Officers and the Senior Advisory Board, will be a Jayhawk inlay embedded in the sidewalk in front of the David A. Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center.

Seniors who contribute $10 or more to the gift fund will receive an official Class of 2008 T-shirt. The full amount of all donations will be applied toward the purchase of the senior class gift. A tent will be set up from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 14-16 on Wescoe Beach to give students the opportunity to participate.

Ryan Northup of Edmond, Okla., senior president of the Board of Class Officers, said the inlay’s proposed design, pending approval by the campus art committee, features a 6-foot-diameter circle around a Jayhawk and two stalks of wheat.

“We’ve done a lot of waving of the wheat this year,” Northup said, referring to KU’s winning sports teams during the 2007-08 academic year. “It’s been a great year, and we wanted to make sure that the success is identified with our senior class of 2008.

Mary Chappell, director of recreation services, said the emblem would be memorable to students and alumni.

“It’s a way for the senior class of 2008 to give back to the university,” Chappell said. “I think any time anyone can make a connection to something that’s been meaningful to them as they’ve gone through school, it’s important.”

KU’s tradition of senior class gifts stretches back to 1873 and often is the first step students take in carrying on the tradition of KU alumni giving back to the university. Past gifts have included a bird bath near Lippincott Hall (Class of 1903), crab apple trees (Class of 1945) and the creation of the HOPE Award for professors (Class of 1959). Last year, the senior class gift helped refurbish the organ in Danforth Chapel.

More information about the senior class gift can be found online at the KU Endowment Web site or by calling (785) 832-7423.

The senior class gift fund is managed by KU Endowment, the independent, nonprofit organization serving as the official fundraising and fund-management organization for KU. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a public university in the United States.

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