Correction appended
Members of the Class of 2016 launched a campaign Sunday called ‘Give for Beth’ — a cause that will create student scholarships and aid colon cancer research in honor of late President Elizabeth Garrett.
The senior class promoted ‘Give for Beth’ in conjunction with the second annual Giving Day, a worldwide campaign encouraging Cornellians to donate to the University.
Maggie Davis ’16, a ‘Give for Beth’ organizer, said donors can choose to support either fund in their contribution.
“By rallying the campus around these causes, we believe students can make a difference in ensuring Cornell remains affordable, as well as in combating the disease that took President Garrett’s life,” she said.
Davis added that the ‘Give for Beth’ campaign planned promotions around Giving Day in the hope of reaching more Cornellians.
“We are doing a large social media component in order to get students involved,” Davis said. “We promoted ‘Give For Beth’ on Giving Day because as students and alumni make their gifts today, we hope they will consider supporting these two great funds.”
In addition to enabling ‘Give for Beth,’ Giving Day also strengthened bonds within the Cornell community, according to Senior Class Co-President Natalie Rosseau ’16.
“Cornell Giving Day is a day of fun and philanthropy — bringing together alumni and current students all over the world to make a difference for Cornell in a span of 24 hours,” she said.
This year’s event raised over $6 million and received 10,100 gifts in 24 hours, according to Rosseau. The Class of 2016 exceeded its fundraising goal by 697.87 percent.
One possible reason for the campaign’s success is the addition of challenge funds — online leaderboards that show the progress of each class, college or division towards its donations goal — Rosseau said.
Although campaigns coordinated with Giving Day have ended, people will be able to donate to ‘Give for Beth’ until commencement on May 29, according to Davis.
“If every Cornell undergraduate gave five dollars, we could raise over $70,000 in her memory and make a large impact on this campus in honor of a true Cornellian,” Davis said. “I am excited to see what the class of 2016 and the whole student body are able to do in the coming weeks.”
A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Natalie Rosseau as the co-president of ‘Giving Day.’ She is in fact the co-president of Senior Class Campaign.