The information cards were sent. The volunteers began to call. Their mission: to contact all ISU seniors who are planning to graduate this May.

When spring semester hits, it’s time for the Senior Class Challenge.

The Senior Class Challenge is a telephone drive to ask seniors for a pledge to contribute to the senior class gift. The class of 1996 voted to establish a courtyard between Pearson Hall and the Student Services Building.

The voting process, which took place last fall, consisted of an informational advertisement in the Iowa State Daily and a chance for seniors to vote during teacher evaluations. Mark Pankey, associate director of Annual Giving for the lSU Foundation, said professors who taught senior classes agreed to include a voting ballot with their teacher evaluations. Some of the other suggestions for a class gift included doing renovations on Curtiss and Marston Halls and putting benches around Lake LaVerne. Another option was donating a marquee for the ISU Center that would be used for Fisher Theater and C.Y. Stephens Auditorium.

Ryan Carey, one of the Senior Class Challenge coordinators, felt the courtyard was a good choice.

“I think the courtyard was chosen because it can be enjoyed by all students and faculty. It is more notable and will be long-lasting. If a classroom was renovated, more than likely it would need to be renovated again in the future. The courtyard is a neat project,” Carey said.

The $80,000 courtyard, which is scheduled to be finished by Homecoming 1997, includes benches, horticulture work such as trees and flowers and low stone walls for seating purposes.

Pankey said the courtyard will be an ideal gathering place for people. He said it also beautifies the campus.

Some changes were made this year concerning the Senior Class Challenge and class gift. In previous years, seniors were asked to make a pledge but were not required to pay immediately. They were given one to three years to pay off their pledge. This created many problems when it came to collecting the money needed for the gift to be completed.

“The main problem with extending pledges over a long period of time is young graduates move a lot during their first few years out of college. It is hard to find out where people went and their parents may be leery about giving out forwarding addresses,” Pankey said. “If students do not let us know where they are, we cannot collect the money they promised to give.”

The Class of 1992 wanted to donate an All-American Grove Walk of Honor information center. The class had a total of 1,007 pledges for a total of $109,895. The class account received only $21,315, which means 80.6 percent of the pledges have not been paid.

Restoring the Campanile was the goal of the Class of 1987. It had a total of 1,568 pledges, totalling $177,405. So far, the class has received $103,764.92 with $73,640.08 left to be paid. The Class of 1991 wanted to donate lowa State Entrance Signs. It had 1,061 pledges equaling $126,057.50, but received only $45,660.75 which means 63.78 percent of the pledges have not been paid.

Most of these gifts will be finished regardless of how much the class contributes to the project.

Amy Larson, director of Student and Career Programs for the Student Alumni Association, said that lSU will contribute money and collect private donations to put toward projects that it feels are important to the university.

An example of this is the aeration system for Lake LaVerne. The Class of 1980 began collecting money for the project, and the Classes of 1988 and 1995 decided to help out by choosing this project as their class gifts.

“Every class hopes they can raise enough money to complete their gift. Sometimes it can’t be done and other classes will decide to help out,” Pankey said.

Another problem with senior class gifts in the past was the fact that many alumni never got a chance to see the completed project.

“Most projects take years to complete and many who donate money may never see the finished project. This year, our goal is to have the courtyard completed for Homecoming 1997. A lot of graduates try to come back for Homecoming their first year out of college,” Larson said.

Due to these problems, the Annual Giving committee came up with five major changes for this year’s Senior Class Challenge.

“We had fewer callers calling on more nights, an option of giving $200, $100, $50 or $25, and students could put their donation on a credit card. The seniors also had an option to pay in either a two- or four-month installment plan, but we did require that the money is paid now so we don’t have the problems with finding people after they graduate,” Larson said.

“Another change implemented was we only called the spring graduates at this time. We will contact the summer graduates and December graduates closer to their graduation dates,” Larson said.

Carey said the changes were good. “We have not had any problems getting money from the seniors. There have been complaints from seniors who say they don’t have money to give, but that can be expected,” Carey said.

Kelli Hinton, a senior majoring in dietetics, was able to donate $200.

“I was involved with lowa State in the past with Homecoming and I want to continue to support the university when I graduate and as an alumnus. Giving to the senior class gift was a way to start my continued support,” Hinton said.

Some seniors were not as enthusiastic about donating to the class gift.

John Simon, a senior majoring in political science, was disappointed with the process involved in selecting the 1996 class gift.

“I never knew about the choices for the gift or the vote. No one called me for a pledge and I never received a card in the mail informing me about the gift,” Simon said. “If I would have been aware of the challenge, my budget would have allowed for a contribution, but since I’m getting married soon, my money is now tied up with my wedding.”

Pankey said they tried to reach all of the seniors graduating in May, but, unfortunately, some people were not contacted.

“We went to the Registrar’s Office the week before spring break and received all of the addresses of those who were planning on graduating in May. There may have been cases when someone moved and did not give the Registrar’s Office their new address. Since we mailed the information cards in bulk mail, the post office was not able to forward these cards to a different address,” Pankey said.

“We researched the phone numbers and tried to make sure we reached everyone. For those who we did not reach, we have sent a ‘ sorry we missed you letter’ describing the gift and asking for a donation,” Pankey said.

Even though Joseph Kasperski, senior in aerospace engineering, did not receive a phone call, he is still contributing to the gift.

“I think it is the thing to do when you graduate, and it is a tradition. I feel contributing to the senior class gift is part of the graduation process,” Kasperski said.

The goal from the May graduates was $35,000, and this goal has already been exceeded by more than $1,000.

“The response from seniors has been phenomenal. They have gone above and beyond our expectations. We only expected an average gift of $50, but the class has given an average gift of $55,” Pankey said. “Five percent of those who have contributed gave a gift of $200 and 13 percent put their pledge on their credit card. This is great because they are giving more than seniors have in the past.”