President Oliver challenges seniors

If 40 percent of the graduating seniors make a pledge to the Augustana Fund, Augustana President Rob Oliver and ASA President Joel Thompson will do a dance with the dance team at the Senior Party on Thursday, May 19.

If 40 percent of the senior class makes a pledge to give, it will set a record of participation in the history of Augustana.

"How cool would that be?" senior Rachel Gerber, member of the Senior Giving Committee, said. "We could set an important record for our school even before we leave."

Students may pick up a piggy bank from the bookstore and fill it with loose change. Pledge cards are available at the Commons Desk. Piggy banks and pledge cards are due in the Development Office by Friday, May 13.

"The piggy banks are just a way of showing how every gift helps," Shannon Viereck, the assistant director of annual giving and alumni relations, said.

The mission of the Senior Giving Committee is to serve as liasons between the student body and the administration, as well as create awareness about alumni connections and the Augustana Fund.

"The Augustana Fund is about our alumni relationship," Oliver said. "Your connection to Augustana isn't over when you leave here. The relationship isn't over."

The Augustana Fund is a general account that goes to supply needs for our school.

"There isn't anything specific that the fund goes to, but it's for the day-to-day tools that make our campus better," Gerber said.

"What's convenient about the pledge cards is that you can decide how much you would like to give over a certain amount of time," Gerber said. "I think the seniors will appreciate that you don't have to give it all at once. For example, you can give ten dollars a month for ten months. When you think about how much money you spend going out to eat or for drinks, ten dollars in a month is really nothing at all."

Viereck said a student will not be held to the specific amount he or she pledged. "If someone pledges an amount that they find they won't be able to pay in the fall, that's okay," Viereck said. "We don't want to scare anyone. No one is going to track you down  and make you pay your full pledge. We just want people to give what they can."

The total amount of money raised or pledged will be announced at the Senior Celebration, and if 40 percent of seniors have made the effort, Rob Oliver and Joel Thompson will make their dancing debut.

"I think people graduate with a bitterness toward their school because of how much money they owe," Gerber said. "But really, no one forced you to come here. You chose this school and this community. And we have a lot to be thankful for."

Gerber said seniors should consider pledging because the Augustana Fund also goes to scholarship financial aid for incoming students. "Most of us receive scholarship money from the Augustana Fund," Gerber said. "I know I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for financial aid. I think it's important to want to give future students the same opportunities."

Graduating seniors may be uncomfortable pledging an amount of money they do not have right away.

"You can pledge a one-time gift of $20 or $25," Gerber said. "No one is asking you to go beyond your means of giving."

When students move into the dorms, they are charged a $100 deposit. Viereck said that students may want to consider giving that deposit money. That option is available on the pledge cards. "We've had a lot of students give the deposit money in the past because it's money you probably forgot you even  had," Viereck said. "It's money you probably wouldn't have missed anyway."

"It should be fun," Oliver said. "I hope it works out. My wife asked me why I'm doing this, because I'm not a very good dancer. I'll probably embarrass myself."