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Senior Class Gift: Empty gesture or philanthropic deed?

28 March 2008 | By Dan Piepenbring, Flat Hat Staff Columnist | The Flat Hat » opinions

I can’t decide whether or not to give to the Senior Class Gift. On one hand, it’s a no-brainer: The College is in desperate need of dough, and even a modest donation would go a long way. But the Class of 2008’s campaign for funds has been one of the more masturbatory self-indulgent spectacles in recent memory, and I have some scruples with supporting it.

It’s inherently awkward to beg for money, especially in a culture that so values the stuff. In many ways, any plea for cash is tantamount to begging and, to avoid humiliation, we must tread lightly.

Absolute candor often smacks of desperation; misleading and underhanded fundraising tactics are off-putting and unethical, to say the least. I have a deep respect for the students working on the College’s Phonathon, cold-calling to solicit funds from alumni and parents. I imagine it’s pretty soul-crushing work, rife with rejection and embarrassing silences.

In its incessant, albeit ardent, requests for donations, the Class of 2008 has taken an unusual approach. They’ve decided to market the Senior Class Gift as essentially the Greatest Donation Ever, an omnibenevolent act in which we’re privileged to take part. They’ve launched a website, a Facebook profile, a YouTube promo video and a slew of aggrandizing paper ads in the form of faux newsletters. All this media drives home the same point: If we all donate, ’08 can go down as the best class in College history.

“And finally, we, the Class of 2008, look good,” proclaims the YouTube promotion. “Damn good,” it reiterates. “And we get our plaque!”

The website, meanwhile, lists “Close to making 2008 the most active class ever!” as number eight in its “Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Pledge to W&M” Five of the 10 reasons end in exclamation points.

In e-mails to the senior class, officers have more than once emphasized the prestige that supposedly accompanies a high participation level. At first glance, it’s enticing — cough up some cash and you can go down in history. But what legacy, really, would we garner?

It’s not as if future generations of students will stand around and gawk at the mind-boggling largesse of ’08. Given recent trends, our record would likely be broken as early as 2009. It seems like the Class of 2008 is merely exploiting an irrational desire for fame and recognition.

Worse still are the persistent references to nonbinding “pledges.” Quoth the website, “A pledge is a promise, not an obligation.” But according to Thesaurus.com, “promise” and “obligation” are synonymous.

“Remember,” recommends the YouTube promo, “a pledge is not an obligation, just a promise to the College that you can give, if and when you can.” This is a vague, slippery sentence. What if I promise to give you a car, if and when I can afford to purchase you one? Given the presence of the conditional “if,” this doesn’t really constitute a promise at all. “If and when” really means “if or when.”

As many ethicists have observed, the motives of charity are knottier than they appear. We agree that generosity is a good thing, and we enjoy feeling good about ourselves. We also want other people to believe that we do good things.

This devolves into a tricky paradox — ultimately, our charitable behavior relates to our vanity, not our selflessness. We give to look and feel good.

Accenting the tenuous nature of pledging only brings out the worst in our charitable impulses. If we act now, we can reap the benefits of giving without having sown anything. The exclusive wine and cheese parties, the bragging rights of record-breakers, the warm and fuzzy feeling of having contributed: All of these can be ours, with no cash down.

These are miserly and curmudgeonly quibbles, I realize. At the end of the day, the Senior Class Gift still benefits the College in myriad ways, even if it is given for the wrong reasons.

We’re in the midst of a grave financial crisis, and I don’t intend to dissuade anyone from donating. I expect too much, apparently, in believing that my class officers can raise money without appealing to narcissism – theirs and ours.

Dan Piepenbring is a senior at the College.

  1. I’ve opted to give a portion of the money I originally set aside for the senior class gift instead to Matt Beato’s campaign for City Council. What an opportunity, to be a part of the student body to put a classmate in Williamsburg’s highest office and, maybe for first time in decades, repeal the anti-student laws and make us equal citizens.

    That, more than any silly plaque or high participation statistic, is the kind of lasting contribution I’d want to make to the College. That’s a legacy. That’s a gift.

    Donate today:
    http://www.mattbeato.com/


    — Max Fisher    Mar 28, 05:25 AM    #

  2. The inconvenient truth of Senior Class pledges to the old Alma Mater is that it is a ruse perpetrated by a university to make its Alumni Fund Raising participation numbers look better.

    Percentage of alumni contributing to the university is a key measurement and input to all of the national university ranking reports. Thus a W&M Senior who pledges $5 payable over five years can and will be claimed and reported by the College as an “active alumni contributor” for each of the five years, even if the one dollar per year is not actually remitted.

    “Selectivity” is another college ranking measurement. The more students who apply and the fewer students are accepted the more “selective” the college/university is regarded. “Selectivity” is a huge factor in the national rankings.

    There are a finite number of students who will be accepted in a given year but an infinite number of students who may apply for admision. Thus many colleges encourage applications knowing full well that most will not be accepted.

    I believe that the increase in W&M applications for last year may be directly attributed to the promotion of “tuition free education” at W&M [i.e., the Gateway program].

    W&M is not alone in these deceptive practices. Both the phony counting of alumni donors and the “bait and switch” method of improving selectivity rankings is practiced by many schools and has been well documented in educational journals.

    W&M needs all of the financial support it can muster and I do not intend to discourage anyone from pledging and contributing but I also believe that honesty and transparency on the part of the College when dealing with alumni and students is an area that “needs improvement” at W&M.


    — Jeff '62    Mar 28, 12:16 PM    #

  3. Max Fisher – How in the world are you supporting the College by contributing to a private election campaign? That’s just nutty.

    Man, if only presidential candidates could convince voters to think like that. I can imagine it now “Donate to Barak Obama – its as good as curing cancer!” or “Fundraiser for McCain – Pretty much the same thing as giving for AIDS in Africa!”

    William and Mary needs funding right now to maintain its honor and prestige… Matt Beato’s personal political ambitions are an irrelevance.


    — d kuehn    Mar 28, 01:49 PM    #

  4. While every dollar makes a difference, the truth is that a few thousand dollars would not make a huge impact on a university with a multi-million dollar annual operating budget, whereas the same contributions would make a relatively tremendous difference with a local political campaign.

    If you want honor and prestige (personally, I want to further the more tangible interests like student rights and town-gown relations, but your desire for an improved image of W&M is legitimate), then I can’t think of a much better positive advertising campaign for William and Mary than getting a student elected to the local City Council for the possibly first time in Williamsburg’s multi-century history.

    It would be in the College’s long-term interest as well. What do you think would be better for the College’s image – seeing a 21 year old student succeeding in serving political office with 12,000 constituents of students, retirees and local families? Or seeing the graduating class “pledge” to donate a few extra thousand dollars, barely enough to pay one professor for one month? Which do you think would garner more positive media attention? Which do you think would attract stronger students who might otherwise attend places like Duke or Georgetown? Which do you think would be more exciting for alumni who also happen to be potential donors?

    I’m not saying people shouldn’t give to the senior class gift. But I am saying that, if our class can spare just part of that money (and here I mean real dollars, not “pledges” that may never be carried out) to help our fellow student prove to Williamsburg voters that he is the right person for City Council, isn’t that a gift that, short and long term, would help the College far more?


    — Max Fisher    Mar 28, 03:18 PM    #

  5. i know you are graduating max, but its odd to see a “journalist” so heavily promoting a political agenda. what happened to being unbiased? how can the flat hat legitimately evaluate beato’s campaign?


    — LLC    Mar 28, 04:58 PM    #

  6. I’m not speaking as a representative of the flat hat but as an opinions writer and, more broadly, as a student. An important clarification.


    — Max Fisher    Mar 28, 05:04 PM    #

  7. Max – Thanks for the dripping sarcasm. I appreciate that. If “honor and prestige” just means “an improved image” to you, then that’s unfortunate. Its not what I meant. I meant things like making sure Gateway stays funded, raising faculty salaries and supporting faculty research so that William and Mary can become a real research university. To me it means things like investing in our sports teams and defraying tuition, as well as continuing to make capital improvements like the new dorms. It means putting money into the continuing greatness of the College. “Image” has little to do with it – although I guess you’re right – that probably would be a nice byproduct. Honor is about who you are – not what other people think of you.

    Putting money into Beato’s campaign may be a worthy thing to do – I don’t know, cause I don’t know the guy and I don’t know his positions. I’m not criticizing you for contributing. What I find wrong is that you would think giving to a private election campaign is somehow equivalent to giving to the College. It may be a very good thing to dedicate yourself to – I never said it wasn’t. Its just a shame its a replacement for a senior class donation in your mind.


    — dkuehn    Mar 28, 08:40 PM    #

  8. I think there’s an easy solution to the false dichotomy that some have read into here—if you both love the College and want to improve the college community, donate to the Senior Class Gift and to my campaign. The two are not mutually exclusive and both are important.


    — Matt Beato    Mar 30, 03:25 PM    #

  9. dkuehn: No sarcasm intended. Whether you call it “image” or “prestige,” it’s important for the College to have it and the difference between the two is largely semantic anyway.

    Matt: I agree. I’m giving to both and hope other seniors will consider doing the same.


    — Max Fisher    Mar 30, 07:50 PM    #

  10. Absolutely, Matt. That’s the point I’ve been trying to make.


    — d kuehn    Mar 31, 09:46 AM    #