The Senior Class Gift Campaign Celebrates a Decade of Support

The Senior Class Gift Campaign (SCGC) is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Over the past decade, more than 300 student volunteers from nine class years have rallied support from classmates in order to provide a foundation for future students.

SCGC’s mission is to educate graduating seniors about the importance of giving back to Bowdoin, to engage them in contributing to the Alumni Fund, and to show them the opportunities alumni have to stay connectedwith the College long after graduation.

Each year, a team of senior class directors helms the effort and inspires their peers to volunteer as class agents to help impart an understanding of the immediate and powerful impact of supporting their class goals.

“Participating in the Senior Class Gift Campaign gives us the opportunity to support the areas of the College that mean the most to us, whether it be a specific academic department, athletics, or diversity and inclusion initiatives,” said Rebecca Marrow ’21, an economics major and sociology minor from Andover, Mass., and one of this year’s SCGC directors. 

“For all the reasons we chose to attend Bowdoin four years ago, we want future Polar Bears to experience that same magic."

Marrow and her two codirectors, Vanessa Apira ’21 and Mishal Kazmi ’21, all point to a desire on behalf of the senior class—and for them personally—to give back.

“This role is important to me because Bowdoin has played a critical role in shaping the person I am,” says Apira, an Africana studies and gender, sexuality, and women’s studies double major who is originally from Uganda.

“I have had several turning points here that were initiated by alumni, staff, faculty, surroundings, and others. I see this position as a way for me to lend a helping hand to current and future students.”

The trio wants to achieve a goal of 80 percent class participation, an important component, says Kazmi, an English major and history minor from Pakistan, given the backdrop of the pandemic.

“For this year especially, I think it's important to recognize how Bowdoin has been a unifying and comforting presence for many of us,” says Kazmi.

“Giving back so that may continueforstudents to come is why participating in this campaign is so significant.”

And to keep things interesting, an anonymous alumnus has continued the tradition of challenging the class to achieve high rates of participation in giving. The donor has committed to supporting a four-year Hyde Scholarship in honor of the Class of 2021 if they achieve participation milestones in their senior year. 

Hyde Scholarships provide critical and significant financial aid with a four-year minimum pledge totaling $40,000 that helps bridge the gap between the College’s endowment and the calculated need of the 45 percent of students who qualify for financial aid. Hyde Scholarship donors are members of the 1794 Society.  

“These three young women continue to do an amazing job stewarding the legacy of the common good,” says Director of Annual Giving Christi Lumiere.

“Since the Senior Class Gift Campaign began back in 2011, student volunteers have stepped up to ensure that Polar Bears who follow in their footsteps will have the same, if not better, Bowdoin experiences and opportunities—that’s what it’s really all about.”