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Whatever else its members accomplish, the Boston College Class of 2012 already has a mark of distinction: It’s given more donations to BC — 1,000 gifts as of May 17 — than any other senior class in University history, breaking the previous record of 973 gifts made by the Class of 2008.
Kaitlin Vigars, assistant director for annual giving in the Office of University Advancement, credits the Senior Class Gift Committee and their inspired challenge for the success of this year’s campaign.
The goal was to get 1,000 seniors to make a donation to the Senior Class Gift. For added incentive, the committee announced that Vice President for University Mission and Ministry Jack Butler, SJ, would eat the Eagle’s Deli’s famed Challenge Burger — a colossal five-pound bacon cheeseburger — if the senior class met its goal.
Though the goal was ultimately achieved, Fr. Butler and his digestive system were spared the task of taking on the 10 patties, 20 slices of cheese, 20 pieces of bacon (and five pounds of fries) because the participation number had not yet reached 1,000 on May 15, the day designated for the Challenge Burger showdown.
Amanda Duggan ’12 said she joined the Senior Class Gift Committee Executive Board to get more involved during her senior year after spending a semester abroad in New Zealand junior year. The option to designate a gift to a specific BC program or school was appealing to seniors, said Duggan, who designated her gift to the PULSE program.
“I felt the cause – giving back — was so important. I wanted to support something directly so others coming after me could have the same opportunities I had.”
She added that a lot of her classmates cited the “Fr. Jack Challenge” as the reason they were giving.
“We could not have achieved this success without the help of Fr. Jack and Eagle’s Deli. The challenge brought new life to the campaign,” said Vigars, who noted that more than 600 gifts came in after the challenge was announced on April 23.
As the countdown to the “Fr. Jack Challenge” approached last week, Fr. Butler stood outside Eagle’s Deli awaiting news of the gift tally and, he added, saying a prayer. Was he praying for the participation goal to be met or to be saved from the culinary confrontation?
Fr. Butler simply smiled and said, “I’m always praying, but I’m not sharing what my intentions are.”