Today, the WeAreGratefulUSC event gave students and faculty the opportunity to thank Trojan donors for the assistance they’ve given to the school.
Erica Bergamyer, the Associate Director for donor communication, strategy and recognition, told Annenberg Media the event was a great way for students to become involved in the campus culture of practicing gratitude.
The event took place in McCarthy quad and featured various activities such as a note writing, photo, and food station.
Bergamyer: We are grateful SC is a new event that we’re hoping to do annually at least. But it’s really a way for us to gather messages of gratitude that can be shared with our donors at a later time. So we have a couple of different activities ... to just let everyone on campus have an opportunity to say thank you to our donors for their generosity and the impact that they have here on campus.
Bergamyer believes that students and staff have a multitude of reasons to be thankful to donors, especially for the scholarship and facilities they fund. According to USC’s 2023 Financial Statements, the university garnered around 386 million dollars from donations in the year ending June 30 2023.
Senior Executive Director of stewardship and donor relations in the university advancement office, Gina Galluppi, expressed how organizers coordinated the event to bring the campus together and educate them on the importance of donors.
Galluppi: So people make donations for scholarships. So students who receive scholarship to come here to USC, wouldn’t that wouldn’t happen if we didn’t have donors who supported that. It’s used to hire, hire and retain good faculty. So the important research that’s happening across this campus and across the Medical Center campus. It benefits everybody, the larger community and the world.
Aditi Sonawane is a graduate student at Marshall and attended the event.
Sonawane: I really appreciate the efforts that the donors and also the Institute has put into bringing students together and establishing great connections within the students. I feel just to have a lot of spaces, the campus almost make seems so accessible and it’s almost like a home. We’ve got everything on campus that we need from all the good food facilities, all the good study spaces, relaxation spaces, or even the libraries.
Organizers hope to host this event every year and hope that more Trojans express gratuity for the donors.
From Annenberg, I’m YeJi Jong.