Achieve Fall 2004

Celebrating the Circle

by Chad Jolly '94, Vice President for Advancement

I step out of my office to cheer on the processional moving past Yates College Union, Curry Library, Jewell Hall, Marston Hall, White Science Center , then behind Jewell Hall toward Gano Chapel. Parents, faculty, and staff cheer from edges of the brick walkway. Student faces reveal their feelings. Awkward anticipation. In keeping with recent tradition, the first-year students follow bagpipers on their inaugural march around the brick walkway encircling the Quad. It is their first few hours at William Jewell College.

Little do these students know that the cheering faculty will soon become friends and mentors. The significance of this day is fully revealed four years later when they repeat the ritual at Commencement. The face of the march is different on that day. Joyful appreciation. They are given the responsibility (whether realized or not) of protecting, shaping, and supporting the institution. Now more than ever – this place belongs to our alumni.

In August, The Princeton Review designated Jewell the nation's best value among all private colleges . Value forged by the commitment of alumni, parents, and friends. Our sincere thanks to all who made an important decision to provide and increase annual support in 2003-2004. A full roster of donors will appear in the forthcoming President's Report. Many supported the College through participation in the Jewell Fund; it is here we must replace annual funding lost from the Missouri Baptist Convention. One Jewell Fund dollar provides the same spendable impact as twenty dollars of endowment. Our bold vision for Jewell demands that we grow the Jewell Fund as well as the percentage of alumni who give (to any fund, at any level).

The Office of Advancement is committed to finding new and better ways to show appreciation to those who make the Jewell experience possible. Beginning this year, new giving clubs will replace our previous donor recognition structure. Although existing giving clubs are dissolving, we will continue to recognize donors who give outside of the Jewell Fund in a variety of ways.

August rituals will come again, I will step outside my office in Marston to cheer the first-year processional. The walkway will be lined with parents, faculty, staff, and the names of those who make the experience possible. I invite you to leave your legacy by becoming an inaugural member of the Circle of 1849.

New Giving Clubs

Individuals providing Jewell Fund gifts between July 1, 2004 and June 30th, 2005 will be recognized in the 2004-2005 President's Report in one of the giving clubs listed below:

Named for the year of the College's founding, the Circle of 1849 giving society recognizes alumni, parents, and friends who generously provide gifts of $1,000 or more to the Jewell Fund. Five separate clubs designate different levels of giving.

Sure to invoke memories of the Jewell Alma Mater, the following clubs are created for Jewell Fund donors giving below $1,000. College rankings, foundation and corporate support often depend on the percentage of alumni who give annually, at any level, so your gift of any amount will make a difference.