The class of 2023 discussed and vot- ed for their senior class gift during September.
The majority of votes went towards a fund to help current and future students with graduate school tests.
“(The fund will help) rising seniors and current seniors cover the cost of graduate school entrance exams fees and/or the application fees associat- ed with applying to institutions for graduate programs such as the GRE, GMAT, MCAT, LSAT,” said Ashley Owen, dean of the senior class.
Once the fund is created, the appli- cation process for students is expect- ed to be hosted through the career center and will be awarded based on “merit and need” and will cover up to three graduate exams.
“(The initial funding will come from each senior’s) donation of $20.23 (an ode to 2023), and we’re trying to get to 40% participation for the class,” said Woods Wooten ‘23, senior class president. “The Mun- gos, alongside anonymous donors to the school, promised to match if we reach that goal.”
Many within the 2023 senior class expressed motivation to do some- thing even bigger than the class of 2022, whose gift it was to clean the seal of Old Main.
However, this did not mean that the class completely agreed whether their gift should be a more physical gift, as last year’s was, or a financial one.
A range of other gift ideas were dis- cussed, either unseriously or officially, by the senior class. These ideas included more trash cans throughout the Senior Village, a pickleball court, a new parking lot and other types of scholarship and endowment funds.
There was some controversy among the advocates for different senior gift ideas, particularly around the different scholarship ideas.
Some seniors wanted a more gen- eral scholarship for any Wofford student while others wanted more scholarships for certain activities, such as study abroad.
Wooten stated that this is the only one of the funds that were senior-oriented, but that this will be beneficial to both current and future Wofford students.
The goal of this scholarship is that, beyond this initial funding, the endowment fund will continue to be funded by the class of 2023 and other funders to help Wofford students into the future.
