Miami University's Senior Legacy Campaign is taking a major shift this year by asking the bicentennial class for $50,000 to build a study room in the new Bicentennial Student Center. In past years, the senior class pledges have ranged between $22,000 to $30,000, but this year the Senior Legacy Campaign is asking each senior to give approximately $200 to reach the higher goal.
Traditionally, the Senior Legacy Campaign has directly fed into scholarship funds, but the university feels the bicentennial's campaign should be spent on adding a study room to the BSC.
The Miami Student editorial board doesn't think the current time is an appropriate time to ask graduating seniors for more money than has ever been asked for in the past. Seniors are graduating into one of the worst job markets in 20 years and must cut back on their own spending. We recognize the importance of asking for donations and using the bicentennial year as a fundraising opportunity, but it is contradictory to ask for more money under such hard economic times.
Although the campaign began in fall 2008, before the severity of the financial situation was realized, Miami needs to be adaptable. The university needs to stop focusing on reaching a specific milestone during the bicentennial year and be flexible to account for the current economic needs of the students.
The university has made it clear the BSC will be built eventually. The study room will be part of the center with or without donations from the senior class, but students may no longer be able to afford Miami without scholarships. Helping keep tuition affordable for more students is a better mark for the seniors to leave.
The editorial board understands the desire to have the bicentennial class leave a tangible mark on the BSC, but having students play an active role in creating scholarships is more important than a plaque on the wall outside a study room.
Seniors may be more willing to donate money if they think it is going to a cause that will help students during this difficult financial time, instead of a project with an undetermined completion date.
If the university wants to give seniors the opportunity to leave a physical mark on the BSC, they should let them vote upon where they want their donations allocated. The university should use Blackboard to set up an online ballot about the preferred use of the donations. By allowing for a vote, seniors could pick the project the majority wants to help fund. Two hundred years is a great milestone for the university and allowing the bicentennial class to support a scholarship for students during difficult financial times is the best way to gain both funds and support for the campaign.
