Class of ’08 to give Grant Fund, Class of ’06 to

Lauren Sutherland Assistant News Editor

The Senior and Sophomore Class gifts were announced on Friday, Jan. 27 and Tuesday, Jan. 31, respectively. The Sophomore Class Gift Committee announced that the Class of 2008’s class gift will be the establishment of an Internship Grant with the intention of enriching and broadening the experiences of Vassar students, and the Class of 2006’s gift will be a renovation of Matthew’s Mug.

Sophomore Class Gift Committee co-chairs Ketan Thanki ’08 and Peter Papachronopoulos ’08 have been working with the Career Development Office (CDO) and Vassar alumni James Rosenwald ’80 and Laura Rosenwald ’81 to develop a program that will provide stipends and grants for students who would like to to apply for unpaid summer internships.

The fund will allow student applying for internships to submit an additional request for grants that will cover the expenses of their work.

“Many students want to apply for summer internships but simply lack resources,” said Papachronopoulos. “Things like food, housing and transportation are rarely provided by unpaid internships, and thus many students are unable to take advantage of great programs.”
“The fund is going to be created under the stewardship of the Career Development Office, so students studying in any academic field will be able to apply for grants through the office,” said Thanki. “Most likely, the requests will then be reviewed by a board of faculty and CDO members, who will determine which internships will receive financial aid.”

After they decided upon the gift, the Committee issued a general announcement encouraging sophomores to make donations to the fund. There will also be campus-wide fundraising for the gift.
“Since the issue of the sophomore gift was not addressed until mid-December, we haven’t yet come up with fundraising ideas,” said Thanki. “We will continue to hold weekly meetings during which we will brainstorm ways to earn money for the gift.”
“We are hoping to raise at least $5,000 from the sophomore class,” said Thanki. “That way, the grants will last that much longer and will be able to help that many more people.” If the sophomore class raises $5,000 from 50 percent of the class, the Rosenwalds will match each $1 raised with $2 of their own.

The Class of 2008 Internship Grant will be the second gift given by a sophomore class in the College’s history. Last year, the tradition was inaugurated when the Class of 2007 replaced the bell above Main Building.

The Senior Class Gift Committee sent a letter to seniors and cited that the Mug is “highly under-utilized and in need of great repair.” The Committee wrote that the project “will provide opportunity for greater and more varied social events that could take place during the day or night.” Their financial goal is to raise $10,000 from at least 65 percent of the senior class.