By Emily Carson
News Assignment Editor
Colette Dow, a Board of Trustees member, has agreed to donate and match the amount raised by senior class officers through their 2012 Senior Class Gift Campaign to fund renovations in The Rathskeller.
The project is being fundraised through the senior gift fundraising campaign by the Senior Gift Committee. The committee consists of 14 seniors from leadership positions in different clubs and organizations, chartered by the Student Government Association (SGA), said Courtney Cobb, senior class secretary.
The committee met with Dow via Skype tonight to ask for a donation equivalent to what the senior gift committee will raise, essentially doubling funds, Cobb said.
The committee is asking each senior to pledge $20.12, but any donation is being accepted.
“The amount isn’t what the important thing is,” said Alan Riddle, adviser for the senior gift committee and assistant director of the annual fund. “The whole campaign itself is to show everyone the importance that gifts have on the university as a whole. “Participation is the most important thing; the amount isn’t that significant.”
So far, the committee has received 40 gifts and raised just under $1,000 through individual pledges. Also, $2,300 has been raised through separate events throughout the year. Donations will be accepted until the end of senior week, and the final amount will be announced the night before graduation at the Baccalaureate Mass.
‘They’re well on their way to making a big difference here,” Riddle said.
Renovation plans include adding some new paint, a jukebox, a bar rail, newer furniture, televisions, an air hockey table and bringing some SBU identity to the Skeller, according to Cobb.
“Currently there is nothing really down there that says ‘St. Bonaventure’ or ‘The Rathskeller,’” she said in a March 9 The Bona Venture article. “We want to make a wall of SBU memorabilia near the entrance similar to the decorations you see pinned on the walls at restaurants like Applebee’s.”
Riddle said the Senior Gift Committee hopes to incorporate this year’s basketball teams into the wall.
“With the success of the men’s and women’s basketball teams this year, I would like to see a few things in the showcases,” he said. “They put a really nice cap on their senior year.”
Both Riddle and Cobb emphasized how necessary it is to use the senior class gift to make changes students will immediately be able to use and see. The goal is to make the Skeller what it used to be —
“Alumni talk about how big the Skeller was when it first opened back in the ’60s and ’70s,” said Riddle. “It was the place to be. Alumni tell stories about this place and it almost makes you jealous. We’re looking to bring some of that back.”
carsonek10@bonaventure.edu
