After a week of voting by Penn State seniors for five finalists, the student Class Gift Committee revealed on Wednesday which three gifts the 2018 Class Gift will fund.
This year’s seniors will have the option to donate to the HUB Alma Mater Display, Student Farm Endowment and Textbook and Educational Resource Fund.
Here’s what to about the three projects chosen:
HUB Alma Mater Display
An artist will be commissioned “to create a display inspired by the Alma Mater’ to be located in the HUB-Robeson Center. There are no specifics yet for what exactly the display would look like, but it’s not the first class gift to artistically commemorate a signature item of Penn State tradition — like the “We Are” sculpture outside of the IM Building for 2013’s class gift.
Student Farm Endowment
The Student Farm, which currently operates on donations alone, will receive an annual source of funding as part of this class gift. The organization aims to use its 1-acre vegetable farm to facilitate conversation about the need to create sustainability solutions and make environmental changes in the future.
The Textbook and Educational Resources Fund
This has been a class gift option in the past as well. The fund allows students to take out reserved books for their classes from the library instead of renting or buying them. Currently the fund is only able to meet 10 percent of its need. This gift will increase the availability of both physical copies and electronic books.
Students graduating in May 2018, August 2018, and December 2018 can donate to the 2018 class gift, or are encouraged to find another cause or organization of their choice to donate to to leave their legacy at Penn State.
