Mind the Gap encourages gratitude for alumni donors

Mike Alberti Staff Writer

Though Vassar’s total student costs—this year totaling $44,160—consistently rank in the top 20 most expensive colleges and universities in the country, this number is actually only a portion of what it costs the College to educate each student every year. The real cost for the 2007-2008 academic year, as determined by Director of Reunion and Class Giving Susan Sheehan, is $61,500. Donors, most of them Vassar alumnae/i, make up the difference each year.

On Feb. 7, the Council on Alumnae/i-Student Advancement (CASA), a campus group aimed at strengthening the relationships between students, alumnae/i and the Development Office, is holding an event called “Mind the Gap: Celebrating the Gift of a Vassar Education.” Organizers created the event to increase awareness among students that an education at Vassar is made possible through the generosity of others.

Feb. 7 is no arbitrary date. It’s the day when, if operating on student tuition payments alone, Vassar would stop running. In essence, from this point forward the rest of the school year is a gift.
“The day is to thank the alumnae/i, parents and friends for making the rest of the year possible,” said Sheehan.

As part of the event, alumnae/i who have donated to Vassar are invited to the College to spend a day with student hosts. Alumnae/i will follow their hosts to classes and receive declining balance points to eat in the dining hall. There will be a reception and a table set up in the College Center where students will be given the opportunity to write personal thank-you letters that will then be sent to donors.

“In my mind,” said Sheehan, “this ends up being the premier type of philanthropy. People are giving out of their own pockets to better the lives of students. They aren’t doing it for recognition. We’re holding this event because it’s the right thing to do.”

For each note that a student fills out, his or her name is entered into a raffle to win a night’s stay at the Alumnae House, dinner for four at the Alumnae House, or a gift certificate to the Three Arts Bookstore.

Besides thanking donors, the event makes students aware of the reasons behind the College’s constant fundraising. “It’s important…for students to understand this while they’re undergrads,” said Director of Alumnae/i Relations for Programs Cathy Lunn, “so they wont be surprised when they’re asked for funds as alums.”

Sheehan said that she was curious about students reception of the event. “We hope that it will be positive, but this is the first year we’ve tried this, and I understand the questions students might have about why the costs are so high or why we’re having this event.”

She added that she will be at the College Center table from 12-2 p.m., and encourages students to stop by and ask her if they have questions or concerns.

“It’s important to recognize that while the cost of tuition, room and board may stop paying for day-to-day operations on Feb. 7 for the wealthiest students and their families who are actually able to afford Vassar’s sticker price, the ‘cut-off’ date for many others of us may come far earlier in the school year,” said Kathleen Brady- Stepien ‘08, President of the Class Issues Alliance and a membe of CASA, in an e-mailed statement. “...and that doesn’t mean that any student is any more or less entitled to their education because of their [in]ability to pay.”

Brady-Stepien added that she was grateful to alumnae/i donors who help carry students beyond whichever day of the school year they stop being able to match that sticker price.
When planning the event, Lunn said that the committee tried to be as sensitive as possible. “We recognized that students have varying degrees of financial aid, and that some have no financial aid at all, and we didn’t want to make anyone feel like the amount their families were paying was inadequate,” she said.

Currently sixty-percent of Vassar students receive some form of financial aid from the college, federal, state, and private sources.

“I understand how it might feel funny, but we have the best of intentions. It’s important for everyone in the Vassar community to realize that the generosity of the alumnae/i is what makes it possible for the College to exist. The alumnae/i don’t want to see things change. They give to make sure that the relationship between the students and the faculty stays the same,” said Lunn.

“I think it’s important because, regardless of whether someone is on financial aid or receiving scholarship grants or paying full sticker price, they’re being supplemented, Sheehan added. “Everybody is getting more than they’re actually paying for, and we need to recognize that.