Giving to Wesleyan

Dear Friends:

During my tenure as chair of the Black Alumni Council, I attended several alumni events on campus and other Wesleyan events in the Washington, DC area. I had the opportunity to interact with alumni I already knew as well as meet scores of persons who had attended Wesleyan before and after I did.

Alumni gifts of time and money are an important aspect of the post-Wesleyan experience. Thank you to everyone who has made giving to Wesleyan a consistent priority in their lives. Though many of you have made a commitment to give back to Wesleyan, this is an area that we as a community of alumni need to address within ourselves. You cannot be surprised to learn that Wesleyan-like all the other institutions in our lives (churches, graduate schools, prep schools, etc.)-has an expectation that its alumni will give back to the school. It would be naive to pretend otherwise. While I have come to realize that each of us have differing degrees of fondness for the institution, we all got something very good from Wesleyan: a first-class education that opened doors to other experiences. Great friendships were made there; romances began, some of which have produced lasting marriages and children. I implore you to give something back to the institution that gave you any of this.

Though I did not have the time to focus on this topic when I was chair, it was something that was always on my mind. To be frank, I view increasing the giving of alumni to the University to be of paramount concern. And it is our duty to take control of this issue ourselves and do what we can in terms of our own personal giving and in terms of encouraging others as well.

There are many reasons why you may not have given up to this point. Some of us do not come from a background of philanthropy. Others feel they do not have money to spare. Each of us has to make our own personal decisions in that regard, but I have a proposal as a way to encourage giving that I would like to share with you and encourage all of us to adopt. Obviously you can give more than I suggest, but this is a way to get you started.

Give a dollar per week for each year you have been out of Wesleyan. So two years after graduation, you would give $104 dollars, or $8.67 per month; 5 years out, your gift of $260 commemorates your first reunion; at 10 years out you would give $520 ($43.33 per month on your credit card or AFT) and join the Wesleyan Donor Associ-ates. This scheme of gradually increasing support should be doable by all of us who make Wesleyan a priority among our charitable interests. You can spare the cost of a cup of coffee or tea or fancy latte to give back to a place that has given you so much.

Having graduated from Wesleyan and benefitted from what it had to offer, I feel that it is my duty to make sure that other people, similarly situated as I was when I was applying to Wesleyan, can avail themselves of this same opportunity.

I hope that you will give my thoughts consideration. Perhaps it will spark a dialogue. More than anything, I hope it will move you into action.

Your friend,
June M. Jeffries '75