Life as a Perfect 10: GW Class of 2010

This weekend, I spent Friday evening and all day Saturday with over 100 of our most prominent alumni - bankers, lawyers, doctors, high-power real estate agents, etc. - who came to DC from all over the country just to attend meetings and strategize on how to make GW better for us and future students. It was nothing less than inspiring. The Luther Rice Society Advisory Council (the ones who are matching our class's gifts) and the GW Alumni Association Board, met together on Saturday to talk about the state of the two organizations, the direction of the university at large, and ways to improve alumni engagement and giving to help reach those goals.

Coordinating this year's senior campaign, and working in Development, I learned a long time ago the importance and prevalence of alumni giving and being passionate about the university, but to see it in action was something else. During the first half of the meetings, I sat next to an alum who graduated from GW in 1958 and has been giving and staying involved ever since he graduated. I asked why, and he said because it was the right thing to do and he wanted to help the students that came after him. Simple as that. I asked him if he was involved in things when he was here and he said no. He got his degree from the night school, he said, so he would drive to campus to go to class and return right back home afterward, but the gratitude he felt to his alma mater was still strong.

All the people I met over the weekend wanted to ask me questions about what's going on on campus, how they can help current students and about what current students wanted most from the university. Then, after a full day of meeting from 8:30am-4:30pm, they were excited to mingle and network with seniors until 6:30.

Their dedication to GW really put into a broader perspective for me why giving our senior gifts is so important. These alumni give thousands of dollars to a school they haven't attended in years for our benefit. It makes it seem completely reasonable, then, that we can give a far smaller amount to a student org or scholarships that affect us right now.