The final months of a senior’s time at Binghamton are when many of us seek closure. As we reflect on our years here and prepare to turn the page on our next chapter, we often look for memorable moments of conclusion to help us fully celebrate our success and understand the changes in our lives.
This can take many forms, including the last toast at Tom & Marty’s, the last Jazzman’s coffee and the final goodbye to those timeless friends. Even applying to graduate online necessitates a brief pause before clicking “submit.” These last moments are emotional; they catalyze our nostalgia, represent the success of our education and help us to reflect on how we’ve changed as Binghamton students through the years. As we move through these moments, it can be difficult to fully accept the idea that they will come to an end; soon, we will have to accept whatever closure we find during these days and transition from Bearcats to Bearcats for Life.
As soon-to-be alums, it is important that our final moments show our unity as a class and our commitment to a campus that has been central to our lives for so long. This year marks the first official “Seniors for the BingFund” campaign, a student-driven initiative that asks seniors to show support and enthusiasm for Binghamton by making their first-ever philanthropic gift to the University. This campaign is overseen by the Student Philanthropy Committee, a student-run organization, of which I am a co-chair. By making a small gift to Binghamton, we are showing that we truly want the University to continue as is, grow and thrive.
As we move toward graduation, giving a small amount of money can help us feel like the alums we will be. Like the last toast at Tom & Marty’s or the last Jazzman’s coffee, this can provide us closure and can also empower us for the future.
Philanthropic giving to the school takes many forms, be it in funding scholarships, renovating old buildings or even keeping the cost of attendance down for the students who follow in our footsteps. Alumni giving is so important for the health of a university. In fact, the U.S. News and World Report attributes 5 percent of its ranking for a university to the rate of alumni donations. This is a pivotal credential for Binghamton. For students, faculty, staff and alumni alike who wish to see Binghamton be the best it can be, we need to understand the magnitude of giving. Though private institutions see higher success in these endeavors, such as Dartmouth, which receives gifts from 99 percent of its seniors, direct competitors like Penn State see greater success in philanthropic giving than we do. It is imperative as seniors who wish to see Binghamton compete with these schools to show our allegiance to BU and cast our first “vote” through the Seniors for the BingFund campaign.
I ask all seniors, as we continue through these final weeks of our undergraduate careers, to make our first-ever philanthropic gift to Binghamton, to experience an emotional last moment and to remember that as alums, we will always be Bearcats for Life.
– Andrew Loso is a senior double majoring in history and Spanish and the co-chair of the Student Philanthropy Committee