Class challenge in full swing
By Lauren Searson, staff writer
Posted on November 20, 2006

Members of the class of 2007 are helping expand the student-giving program formerly known as the Senior Class Challenge.

Renamed the Madison Class Challenge, the campaign operates under the annual Madison Fund within the JMU Development Office. MCC includes a steering committee made up of nine seniors and one junior volunteer.

“We are working to expand this student-giving program into a four-year program, so we wanted to find a year-neutral name,” Kelly Snow, assistant director of the Madison Fund, said.

Student Director for the 2007 MCC, senior Gwendolyn Brantley, said the mission of MCC is to educate students about the importance of private dollars for JMU while encouraging their participation by making a small monetary donation.

Students can designate their donation to the area of campus that most interests them.

According to Snow, endowment guarantees that JMU will be able to give out a certain number of scholarships or hire a specific number of quality professors. 

“The higher our endowment, the stronger our school will become because we know we can count on our private dollars,” Snow said.

Brantley said the goal for 2007 is to have 500 seniors contribute to the campaign. In its first year asking for gifts in the fall, MCC has secured 10 percent of this participation goal and hopes to reach 50 percent by the end of the semester.

In a July press release from the Office of Media Relations, $10.3 million was raised in 2003-’04, a record that was surpassed in 2005-’06, which totaled  $13.3 million. In 2004-’05, JMU received almost $7 million.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, this year, out of 746 colleges and universities, JMU ranks 566 in alumni giving. The JMU Tidewater Alumni Chapter said JMU’s endowment ranks 24th out of 30 colleges and universities in the state.

On March 15, JMU kicked off its first comprehensive capital campaign, which ties into the university’s centennial celebration. The goal of the Madison Century capital campaign is $50 million for endowment by 2008.

Snow said there is a preconceived notion that when people give, it has to be a large amount. If the entire senior class gave $5 each, that would amount to $17,500.

“We completely understand that students have other financial obligations,” Brantley said.

Donations can be made with cash, credit card, FLEX or checks.

“I think it’s really key to understand the importance of giving back to your alma mater,” senior MCC captain Ann Nason, who helps raise money for the campaign, said.

Snow and the MCC committee are in the process of starting a four-year student and young alumni giving program. According to Snow, more than half of the alumni base are those who graduated after 1990.