When senior Brittany Rhodes first came to campus four years ago, she did not know exactly how she would be able to pay back an institution that afforded her so many opportunities.
As a University Scholar, Rhodes said she is forever grateful for the financial support she receives from the scholarship's benefactor, Melinda Gates, Trinity '86 and Fuqua '87. And Rhodes cited this as one of the reasons she chose to become involved with the Class of 2007 Senior Gift Campaign.
The campaign asks each senior to contribute $20.07-in commemoration of their graduation year-to the Duke Annual Fund.
"We hope the senior gift is the first gift in a lifetime of giving back to Duke," said Heather Bennett, associate director of annual giving.
Already, the participation rate of the Class of 2007-currently at 27 percent-is higher than that of the Class of 2006 at this time last year, Bennett said. The committee hopes to reach 70 percent participation, which would put the class ahead of the Class of 2005's record-breaking 69-percent participation rate. The Class of 2006 reached a participation rate of 61 percent.
Duke is not the only university, however, to hope for record-setting success in senior giving this year.
The University of Pennsylvania is also ahead of schedule in its 2007 campaign due to several factors, including a very strong leadership committee, major improvements to its class website and a cohesive marketing campaign, said Meredith Seidel, UPenn's assistant director of student advancement.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill also reported a successful donation year, with a 22-percent participation rate and a total of $20,514.73 raised so far.
Marie DiZazzo, senior class gift director at Yale University, attributed her school's campaign's 80-percent participation rate-which has raised a total of $27,130-to outstanding individual donations and successful coordination activities, including wine tastings and study breaks.
"I'm pretty satisfied with how things have been," DiZazzo said. "The Class of 2007 was phenomenal. This year's senior class was one the best gift campaigns that we've had so far."
The Duke campaign began with a kick-off event in September to raise awareness, but the heart of the effort centered around last week's Senior Week, said senior Brittany Greenfield, co-chair of the senior class gift committee.
"One of the primary goals besides the philanthropic aspect is to bring the senior class together," Greenfield said. "Since freshman year, we don't have a venue or council to bring all 1,600 of us together. Senior Week is a chance to catch up with everybody."
Senior Week included the traditional Duke Chapel Climb, a pub crawl in collaboration with Drink for Durham, a "Senior Prom" hosted at the Millennium Hotel and a senior picnic hosted by President Richard Brodhead and his wife.
"Based on the current donor total, the enthusiasm and dedication of the Senior Gift Committee and the incredible attendance at the Senior Week events last week, this year's campaign will be a terrific success," Bennett said.
In addition to individual donations, Brodhead issued a challenge to the class at the senior picnic. He contributed $20.07 and promised that if the class reaches 50-percent participation, he will move it one decimal point and donate $200.70. If the class reaches 70 percent participation, he will move it again for a $2,007 gift to the campaign.
In the larger scheme of things, $20.07 is a small amount of money to pay back to Duke, Rhodes said.
"$20.07 is like 15 fro-yos or a bar tab at Charlie's or half a tank of gas," she said. "I don't think it's that much to give when I look back at my Duke experience. I just can't put a price on that."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.