As the year draws to a close and the Class of 2007 gets set to announce its gift to the College at graduation, the College is still awaiting the centerpiece of last year's Senior Class gift - three new clocks for Brower Student Center.
The clocks were to replace those mounted above each entrance to the building and in the food court. However, the clocks selected by the Class of 2006 were backordered by the vendor. The clocks also needed approval from student center staff, which was slow in arriving due to personnel changes, according to Diana Lygas, director of Developmental and Alumni Affairs.
"There was some changeover time in both my office and in Brower Student Center as we filled vacancies and the new staff members learned their new responsibilities," she said.
Between this academic year and the last, Donna Green, 2005 alumna of the College, took over as Development Assistant in charge of the College Annual Fund, which includes the Senior Class gift. Gem Perkins also became the new manager of Brower Student Center.
The clock in the food court will have a white background to stand out against the brick, while the clocks above the entrances will have no backgrounds, according to Megan Baglivio, president of the Class of 2006. According to Green, the clock company, Clock Style, hopes to have the clocks delivered by June 1.
"Megan went to her class council to decide: did they want the clocks they had chosen, or did they want different clocks?" Green said. "They ultimately decided to wait and get the clocks they wanted."
"Once the clocks are ordered and delivered to the Brower Student Center, we will be happy to hang them," Perkins said.
In addition to the clocks, the Class of 2006 awarded the College a bench and a brick for the Alumni Grove.
The Senior Class gift is primarily funded through all of the senior events held during the year. The Senior Class Gift Committee also receives organizational and funding support from the office of Developmental and Alumni Affairs.
"The Senior Class Gift Committee is made up of the senior class officers, the homecoming king and queen, any members of the future alumni association - any senior who is interested in joining the committee," Green said.
This year's senior class plans to make a donation to the Laurie Mandara '07 Fund. Mandara was a senior psychology major who passed away during the Fall semester.
"We chose that because Laurie was a member of our class and she always worked on behalf of the students, so we wanted to help keep her memory going on at the College," Mollie Seiferas, current Senior Class president, said.
In addition to their donation to the Mandara Fund, this year's seniors are hoping to get ceramic lions to go on top of the pedestals in the Alumni Grove. Other past senior gifts have included benches and bricks in the Alumni Grove, as well as donations to the College's Annual Fund.
