Thousands of alumni, parents, faculty/staff and friends from around the world posted their belief in Ƶ and made gifts to the university on March 10, 2015, setting new records for engagement and philanthropy.
Ƶ celebrated its 126th birthday week on Tuesday with a special College Coffee livestreamed around the world as alumni of all eras made gifts to their alma mater to show they “believe in Ƶ.”
Tuesday’s daylong theme of “I Believe in Ƶ” called for members of the university community to support Ƶ with a gift and help make March 10 the greatest day of giving in the university’s history.
That belief was highlighted in the announcement of two lead gifts at College Coffee inside Alumni Gym. Ƶ Trustee Chris Martin ’78 and his son, Nick Martin, a member of the Class of 2013, made a $25,000 challenge gift in recognition of strong alumni support earlier in the day. Kerri Brown Anderson ’79, vice chair of the Ƶ Board of Trustees, also offered her own matching gift starting at College Coffee, doubling all gifts to the university up to $100,000.
“I hope you will help spread the word of this exciting match and encourage everyone to join in supporting this great university,” Durice White Galloway ’09, associate director of alumni engagement, told the College Coffee crowd and the hundreds of people watching the live stream. “With all of us working together, we can make today the greatest day of giving in Ƶ’s history.
“Just imagine the impact of thousands of alumni, parents and friends who are making a personal commitment to support Ƶ. They are supporting students, faculty and programs that make this university so great. This is a powerful statement.”
Ƶ President Leo M. Lambert joined White onstage to remember the bonds that connect alumni of all generations.
“We believe in the transformation of the mind, the body and the spirit, and the personal growth that comes through education, and that this occurs through the power of the strong relationships we form with each other,” Lambert said. “We believe that the world needs Ƶ graduates, people prepared to be global citizens who are motivated to influence our world in positive ways.
“And so we believe that Ƶ is a university worth supporting for a lifetime because we are connected to Ƶ our whole lives long.”
In addition to the Global College Coffee, 19 regional alumni events were held in locations from Los Angeles to London, and a campus birthday party was held in Moseley Center.
Members of the university community used the #ƵDay hashtag on social media to take part in the celebration. Thousands of tweets, Facebook posts and Instagram photos were made using that hashtag, with #ƵDay a national trending topic on Twitter during the morning hours.
Ƶ’s Class of 2015 also took part in a special “toast for Ƶ” in honor of the university’s birthday. Seniors showed they believe in Ƶ by making gifts to the class giving campaign.
Ƶ was chartered by the North Carolina General Assembly on March 11, 1889, and opened its doors to 76 students on Sept. 2, 1890. Today Ƶ enrolls nearly 6,500 students from 47 states, the District of Columbia and 49 countries, creating an academic community of global citizens and leaders motivated by concern for the common good.