Senior class gift update

Good news, seniors! The Class of 2002 Gift has surpassed all expectations. Your Senior Class Council wished to raise the $25,000 needed to create an endowment for the renovation and expansion of the SMU Career Center and its programs. Currently, we have raised just over $30,000. If you have participated in the Class of 2002 Gift, thank you. If you have not, you still have time. Here’s a quick look ahead:

The Class of 2002 Gift Unveiling Ceremony will occur at 3 p.m., Friday, May 17, in the Commons area of the Hughes-Trigg Student Center. Construction on the Career Center can’t begin until the summer, when most of the students leave campus. So, on May 17, we will simply unveil a plaque resembling the actual etched glass plaque that will hang in the SMU Hegi Career Development Center once all construction is complete.

If you wish to have your signature included on this plaque and in the unveiling ceremony program, then you must make or postmark your $150.00 donation by May 1. The final gift-giving deadline is May 31. If you contribute $150.00 between May 2 – May 31, your signature will be etched onto the actual glass plaque that will hang permanently in the Class of 2002 Reception Room. Your name will not be included in any part of the unveiling ceremony.

Will your contribution matter? Yes. Next August the Career Center will be nearly twice its present size. Six interview rooms and a large conference room will be added. More importantly, the addition ensures that all SMU Students will have access to job placement services. Over the next few years, SMU will add staff members who will specifically assist Dedman, Meadows, SEAS students and Cox majors. The addition is estimated to double the number of companies participating in Career Center Programs and spark a 500 percent increase in database expansion.

What’s in it for this year’s graduating seniors?

First, a tactful answer: our gift enables future SMU students to pursue their academic interests knowing that SMU has the career services to support them. Now, a brusque answer: we, as SMU alumni, still have access to SMU Career Services. So, by participating in the Class of 2002 gift, we not only help future classes find jobs; we help our own.

Let’s make the Class of 2002 Gift the best class gift in SMU history. If you have contributed, please encourage your friends to do so. If you have not contributed, I hope that you will. Please visit [ seniorgift.smu.edu ] to download a printable donation form or to make a gift online.

For more information, please contact Caroline Witt at (214) 768-2586, 1-888-327-3755 or [email protected]with “senior class gift” on the subject line.