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A spirit that is not afraid

Campaign brings donations home

Last year, more than 700 students gave about $13,000 in donations to the Student Giving Campaign, and this year's campaign is looking to raise even more money.

"This year we are hoping to get at least 1,000 students involved," said Sharon Awtry, director of alumni giving.

Finley Hurth, sophomore in human development and family studies, is the liaison for the College of Human Sciences and is working to get students in her college to donate.

"It's proven that if you get students to give back while they are students, then they will give back as an alumni, and that is our hope with this campaign," Hurth said.

Each college has a student liaison to encourage their peers to donate.

"My role as a student liaison is to motivate as many students as possible across Auburn's campus to give a meaningful gift to an area of the University they care about or want to support," said Emily Pogue, senior in nursing.

Some programs, like the Raptor Center, are solely based on individual donations.

"By involving and targeting students in the giving process, we are motivating other outside donors," Pogue said. "It sends a powerful message by saying that we, the students, care, so you should too."

Hurth said she makes classroom visits for the college and chapter visits to sororities to get the word out in the Panhellenic community.

She also wears a pin on her backpack so people will ask her about it.

There is a competition between colleges to give students the incentive to give a monetary gift.

Awtry said new changes ensures the smaller colleges do not have to compete with much larger colleges.

"Students are a giving group," Awtry said. "They are very selfless in what they do while on campus.

"The student giving campaign is almost an awareness campaign that says you can give right back here to Auburn."

The School of Nursing has had a student giving campaign for seven years, and that model is being taken campus-wide to encourage monetary donations, Awtry said.

"Participate at a level meaningful to you, and then give to something you are passionate about," Awtry said. "And when you look back at your time at Auburn and say 'I supported that.'"

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