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MBA Class of 2003
Despite the difficult economy
and tough job market, the MBA
Class of 2003 raised $470,539
for their class gift - the highest
amount ever raised by a graduating
class. Ninety-eight percent of the
class of 757 students participated
in raising money for the gift.
Associate Dean of External Affairs Steven
Oliveira stated, "The Class of 2003 has
set a remarkable new standard for future
generations of Wharton students and alumni.
Ninety-eight-percent participation is a
stunning achievement at any time, but it is
even more significant during an economically
challenging time. No school of our size has
achieved this level of participation.
The class gift is unrestricted and goes toward
the Wharton Fund. The Wharton Fund provides
resources to fund high-priority initiatives of the
School: it helps invigorate the School's innovations
in academic programs and student services; it
builds competitiveness in attracting the best
students and faculty; and it provides the flexibility
to pursue new opportunities at the moment they
appear. The Wharton Fund also helps to bridge the
gap between the actual cost of educating an MBA
student at Wharton and the income generated from
tuition and endowment.
Each year, the School invites an alumnus or
alumna to participate in the class gift campaign
by providing a challenge gift that gives students
additional incentive to donate to the campaign.
This year, an anonymous donor agreed to be the
challenge donor, giving $75,000 to the campaign.
The challenge gift was structured on the basis of
participationÑthe more students that pledged, the
more money that the campaign received.
Motivating further participation was the theme
of this year's class gift, which strived to capture the
cultural diversity represented at Wharton. The
theme was: "757 Individuals, 59 Countries, 1 Gift."
Students from 50 countries spanning the world
reached 100 percent participation.
Corinne Chao, WG'03, and Katie Mensch, WG'03,
co-chairs of the 2003 MBA Class Gift Committee,
wrote in a recent letter to their class: "We graduate
this month into a world where the business climate
is challenging, where many, many of our classmates
don't have jobs. Despite this - because of this - we
gave. We gave because we know the impact that
Wharton is going to have on the rest of our lives, in
good economic times and in bad. We gave because
we are in this for the long haul. We are invested,
literally and figuratively, in making Wharton a
better place so our graduates can go out, like you,
and make their mark in their communities around
the world. We gave because we just don't say we
are a community of leaders here at the School, we
step up and dare to be counted."
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