MEGHAN GUATTERY
Assistant News Editor
If you have ever been to Cranston Marche, you are likely to have seen the large, stained glass windows that adorn the face of University Commons.
If you are more of a Tim Hortons enthusiast, the gazebo between the Williams Center and the residence halls has probably caught your eye more than once.
“When you walk around campus and you see the different gifts that the other classes have left […] it just kind of gives you a sense of pride for Fredonia, a sense of what it means to be a Fredonian and just kind of embellishes all of the things that make you proud to be from this alma mater,” said Senior Challenge committee member Antonio Regulier, a senior social work and English double major.
This year’s gift, which was announced at the 100 Days Until Graduation celebration, will be either a granite or cast iron outdoor fountain.
As senior class president and, therefore, head of the Senior Challenge committee, public relations major Anthony Mercedes leads the committee that was presented with the challenge of choosing the gift that the class of 2015 would leave to Fredonia.
“This is the whole point of the fundraising that the Senior Challenge committee does,” said Mercedes. “We fundraise to leave our mark on this campus. So, I wanted to make sure that the gift would beautify the campus, instill tradition and at the same time, give back.”
Mercedes and the 32 members of the Senior Challenge Committee set out to accomplish their goal with those three characteristics in mind.
“‘Now,’ we thought, ‘since the fountain will beautify the campus, how can we make this something that instills tradition,’” said Mercedes. “This is when we brought in the idea of making a wish. So, on the day of commencement, all of the seniors that are graduating will walk to the fountain and make a wish for what’s to come.”
After a discussion with Fredonia President Virginia Horvath, it was decided that the new students arriving at Fredonia each year would also be included in the tradition. When they gather as a class for the first time in King Concert Hall, President Horvath will suggest that the students make a wish in the fountain for their four years at Fredonia.
“After that, we said, ‘How can we give back?’” said Mercedes. “That’s when we came up with the idea of, once every semester, collecting all the money in the fountain and giving it to a local charity of our choice.”
The committee members will choose their top three charities later in the semester. Every member of the senior class will receive an email with a brief description of each charity and will be able to vote for the one they would like to receive the donations.
In order to reach its goal of $12,000, the committee held fundraisers both 200 and 100 days prior to graduation. Before the money they collected from the 100 Days Until Graduation event, which was celebrated on Thursday Feb.5, the committee had already raised $3,685.
In the past, the committee, along with the Foundation House, has held a phone-a-thon to raise money for Senior Challenge. This year, they decided to take a different approach.
“Parents have been asked to donate before, but this time we are asking parents specifically of the seniors to contribute toward the senior class project, which includes the fountain and also the Thomas Dean scholarship,” said director of Alumni Affairs, Patty Feraldi.
The committee will be sending out donation letters to the parents of the graduating seniors asking them for a donation of $20.15 to contribute to the 2015 senior class gift.
With unity at the forefront of fundraising, the committee will continue to host events that welcome all members of the Fredonia community.
In addition to the several events they have already hosted, a Chiavetta’s chicken barbeque fundraiser is in the works for later in the semester.
“We want students to feel a sense of family at Fredonia,” said Feraldi. “The people that you are close with here, your good friends, will be your best friends for life. You’ll be able to talk to them 10 years from now and it will be like you saw them yesterday.”
A senior expo will be held on March 24, from 5-6:30 p.m. in University Commons. Cosponsored by the senior class, Campus Life and the Alumni Office, the event will give seniors the chance to meet with members of the Career Development Office, purchase a cap and gown and meet with insurance agencies.
“It’s an opportunity for the seniors, to help them transition back into real life,” said Feraldi.
Even with the thought of leaving their Fredonia bubbles and entering the “real world” hanging over their heads, and commencement creeping closer by the day, the seniors hold near and dear to them the simple things that made them happy before they began their journey four — or maybe more — years ago.
“I’ve got a lot of laundry and I’m starving,” said Regulier. “So, I’m ready to go back to my momma’s house before Sallie Mae starts calling for those loans.”
But the students of the class of 2015 have some time left at Fredonia before they have to start worrying too much about repaying their debts.
“It’s — honestly, it’s breathtaking in all the right ways,” said Mercedes. “It’s one of those things that you just stop and you just start contemplating. You have 100 days here. What are you going to do with those 100 days?”