Last modified: Tuesday, July 23, 2002
Graduating seniors at IU Bloomington changed the "face" of philanthropy on campus
IU, Purdue seniors in inaugural Senior Face Off
Graduating seniors at Indiana and Purdue universities "faced off" for philanthropy in a new rivalry tradition between the two schools this year, and the Hoosiers prevailed.
The inaugural Senior Face Off was launched in February, when students from the two universities challenged their classmates to participate by making a pledge to the annual fund of their school before graduation. The victory was determined not by money raised or pledged, but by higher level of participation.
IU's annual fund received gifts from 14.7 percent of IU seniors, while 11.4 percent of Purdue seniors made a similar gift.
"IU and Purdue student foundation members led the charge and inspired their classmates to make gifts," said Erin Trisler, an Annual Fund associate at the IU Foundation. "The Face Off connected the students to the university by emphasizing the significance of their giving back and bridging senior support with student needs campuswide."
Trisler said this is a competition that has no losers. Everyone is a winner in that both universities benefit from the generosity of these new alumni. Senior class gifts annually help underwrite the cost of career development resources, classroom equipment, technology upgrades and scholarships, for example.
Pitting the rival schools against each other added an element of spirited competition to make the campaign challenging and fun. The IU vs. Purdue Senior Face Off home page (located at https://www.seniorfaceoff.org) enabled both schools to effectively market the challenge and to track its progress throughout the semester.
Trisler said this year's effort was so successful that plans are to continue it next academic year.
