Student Council adopted a symbolic resolution earlier this month in an effort to encourage fourth-year students to donate a portion of their class gift to AccessUVa, the University’s financial aid program.
The push for donations, first called for in an open letter published Nov. 8 by Council President Eric McDaniel, comes after the Board of Visitors decided to eliminate AccessUVa’s grant-only aid packages amid rising fiscal limitations. The change has been hotly debated by student and alumni groups since the August vote.
“[Council’s resolution aims] to show the University community and the alumni community this is something students care about, and they should make it a priority in resource allocation and fundraising,” said McDaniel, a fourth-year College student.
The Class Giving Campaign is spearheaded annually by the Fourth-Year Trustees, who encourage soon-to-be graduates to donate money to organizations and initiatives which impacted their University experience, ranging from clubs to specific schools and majors at the University.
Fourth-year College student Neil Branch, Council’s vice president for organizations and AccessUVa recipient, said the resolution reaffirmed Council’s commitment to supporting low-income students.
“[AccessUVa] was one of the things that really encouraged me to come to U.Va., in addition to the tradition of student self-governance,” Branch said. “I think it is important that [AccessUVa] is there for future generations — so that it maintains a diverse class, and so that students from all walks of life feel like full [members] of the community.”
The AccessUVa changes are projected to save the University about $6 million per year by 2018, as rising numbers of students qualifying for all-grant packages contributed to the cost of the program to grow from $11.5 million in 2004 to $40.2 million this year.
In the open letter, McDaniel said students should help lead the effort to fund AccessUVa through philanthropic donations. As a relatively young program, AccessUVa is likely to receive fewer alumni donations than other University programs, he said.
Class Giving Campaigns have raised between $110,000 and $600,000 annually in the past five years. The Class of 2014 has a 15 percent student participation rate so far this year.
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