Class of 2011 Raises $225,000 for Yale SOM

The Class of 2011 has raised a record amount for its Class Gift, and will use a portion of the funds to name the student gym that will be part of Edward P. Evans Hall, the new Yale SOM campus. Nearly 90% of class members participated, giving a total of $225,393, breaking the previous record of $215,000 raised by the Class of 2010.

The gift drive was a coordinated effort, led by Jason Hill '11 and Max Musicant '11, with a 27-member committee helping in planning and implementation. A party at 360 State, the new apartment tower built by Bruce Becker SOM/ARC '85, launched the two-week blitz, which included direct contacts from committee members to students, a prominent table in the Hall of Mirrors, and a closing event in Caulkins Courtyard. A letter sent to all students in the class stressed the chance for students to "give back to a place that has given us so much."

The Class Gift has historically been given to the Annual Fund, which is used for discretionary spending by the school. But with Edward P. Evans Hall currently under construction across Whitney Avenue, the class requested the opportunity to donate to building the new campus. The Class of 2011 will split its gift between the Annual Fund and the new campus. As a result, the class will get a plaque in the new gym, which is expected to be called Fit for Thought, and will be the new incarnation of Food for Thought, the student-run café that has long raised money for the Internship Fund. (In February, the school held a student competition to determine what would replace the café in Edward P. Evans Hall.)

Hill credited the success of the gift drive to a special connection between the Class of 2011 and Yale SOM. "The Class of 2011 really is special," he said. "Maybe it’s our unique status as the only class to parallel two full years with Dean Oster. But there’s something about our commitment to the school that has led to similar participation success with the Internship Fund. I think many of us came here because we wanted to be active participants in our business school experience, and at SOM that means giving back to make the school better than it already is. The class gift represented the final signal of that commitment before we become alums. I’m not surprised with the result; I think we knew we’d get there."