By Grace Apostol
Elm Staff Writer
With the spring 2022 semester coming to an end, the Washington College senior class of 2022 still has much to do before graduation, including choosing a class gift.
The senior class gift is a tradition at WC. This year, Class of 2022 President senior Skyler Hancock is in charge of organizing and collecting funds for the gift.
“It’s a chance for each of us to reflect on the parts of the College that have meant the most to us, whether that’s a sports team, a club, a department, or our scholarships,” Hancock said.
Each member of the senior class is asked to donate the equivalent amount for their class year — $20.22 — to raise enough money for this year’s gift. In return, they will receive honor cords to wear at the graduation ceremony this May showcasing their donation.
Additionally, according to Hancock, the cords for the seniors also stand, “as a sign of their philanthropic commitment to the future of the College,” as well as “to show that they understand their place among the long line of alumni who are donors.”
SGA President for 2022-23 senior Kat DeSantis enjoys the tradition because it is a way to express gratitude towards the school.
“I appreciate the senior class gift tradition because it’s an opportunity for seniors to show their gratitude to the college that has given them so many academic and extracurricular successes,” DeSantis said.
Along the Cater Walk, there are plaques dedicated to senior gifts of the past, including the total percentage of how many students in that graduating class contributed that year.
Class donations are displayed and state the exact amount of participation of each class.
“We have seen the amount of participation many previous class years have had on the Cater Walk, obviously, the goal is to have 100% participation of the Class of 2022,” Hancock said. “We’d love to see all of the class of 2022 participate by donating.”
All of the excitement that comes with the end-of-the-year donations and other events leaves several members of the senior class, including Hancock and senior Lauren Moynihan, feeling poignant about their upcoming departures.
“It’s a bittersweet excitement for graduation,” Hancock said. “It’s sad to be leaving the place we have called home for the past four years as well as all of our fellow peers as we make our way in the world.”
Moynihan said that she is excited to graduate and looks forward to what lies next in her life.
“My time here has felt brief due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it obviously wasn’t what I expected when I enrolled back in 2018,” Moynihan said. “It feels strange knowing I won’t be returning in the fall, and that I won’t be a student anymore, but I’m looking forward to moving on to whatever comes next.”
With donations from the class of 2022 rolling in, the class is still deciding on what gift the donations should go toward.
“We haven’t decided yet what gift we want to give to the College. Any seniors can share gift ideas with me at shancock3@washcoll.edu,” Hancock said. “Hopefully, when we finalize [what] we as a class want to be our class gift there will be more of an incentive to donate our class year, $20.22.”