By Sammy Roth



The class of 2009 has chosen as its Senior Gift a donation to the Alumni Scholar Endowment Fund, which provides financial aid to students, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Eli Goldsmith said.  Seniors chose this gift from three options in a vote today at the senior class meeting.

142 seniors voted to donate to financial aid, 83 voted to fund environmentally-friendly initiatives, and 15 voted for a contribution to the Brownstein Gap Year Fellowship.

The Brownstein Fellowship provides one senior with an opportunity to travel during a gap year after high school.  Possible “green” initiatives mentioned on the ballot were a solar power rig on the middle school campus and the elimination of plastic water bottles at the Upper School.

“Right now, given the economy, there’s more demand for aid,” Goldsmith said.  “And I think that really spoke to the seniors.”

Seniors are encouraged to donate $25 apiece for the gift, with a class goal of raising $5,000.  Goldsmith said the Advancement Office is considering matching all student donations with a donation four times as large, ideally matching $5,000 with $20,000.

The three Senior Gift options were chosen by a committee composed of the Senior and Head Prefects, student members of the Student Alumni Association, Goldsmith, Chief Advancement Officer Ed Hu and students recommended for the committee by their deans.