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Campus Review
July 7, 2014
Second Senior Class Gift Raises
More Than $2000 from 142 Graduates
Clayton State Creating First Alumni Directory
by John Shiffert
Clayton State’s Senior Class Gift initia-
tive, originally launched in the fall of
2013, accounted for a total of $2174
raised from 142 seniors over the course of
four weeks this spring. With the gift being
matched by Clayton State President Dr.
Thomas Hynes, the Spring 2014 Senior
Class Gift created $4000 for various
Clayton State departments and the Dream
Maker Scholarship Fund for Clayton State
students.
Based on the total number of spring 2014
graduates, 19 percent of the graduating
seniors participated, and proudly wore an
orange tassel on their graduation caps in
recognition of their generosity.
Described by Annual Fund Director
Myisha Garnes as a new tradition of pay-
ing it forward at Clayton State, the Class
Gift Campaign also promotes the impor-
tance of philanthropy and is a collective
effort by Clayton State’s seniors to leave
their mark on the University. Garnes also
notes that the Senior Class Gift is the first
step for seniors in staying connected to
Clayton State
The first Senior Class Gift from the
December 2013 Commencement raised
$1,317 from 88 seniors and was similarly
matched by Hynes, making a total of
$2,600 dollars raised towards scholar-
ships. Earlier this spring, former Clayton
After 45 years of making dreams real,
Clayton State University is currently in
the process of creating its first-ever alum-
ni directory.
“This is an exciting project as we will
benefit from free data research services
and a quality publication,” says Director
of the Office of Alumni Relations Leila
Tatum. “Harris Connect, our partner in
this project, has begun reaching out to our
alums to gain updated contact informa-
tion. They are receiving yellow postcards
in the mail requesting that they call a 1-
800 number.”
Why an alumni directory? Tatum explains
that staying in contact with our alumni,
and helping them stay connected to each
other, is among the Alumni Association’s
greatest responsibilities.
Publisher Harris Connect, currently in the
process of collecting information, is con-
tacting Clayton State alumni by mail and
phone, asking alumni to verify their name,
address and email, their graduation infor-
mation, class year, college achievements,
their current title and employer, and to
provide any career updates.
State Student Government President
Joshua Davis presented Hynes with a
check on behalf of the class of 2013 dur-
ing the Annual Scholarship Luncheon.
For more information on the Senior Class
Gift,
go
to
http://www.clayton.edu/Giving/Annual-
Fund/Senior-Class-Gift.
“We sure hope you are as excited about
this project as we are!” says Tatum to the
University’s 20,000 alumni, who will be
offered the option of purchasing the com-
pleted directory. “There are some cool
new things with this directory, which will
be available in CD, softbound and hard-
bound formats. You will be able to include
a wide range of details like personal pho-
tos, messages to friends, detailed biogra-
phical profiles – all in an effort to rein-
force those important relationships made
while you were at Clayton State.”
Tatum also notes that Clayton State’s con-
tract with Harris Connect prohibits them
from selling or sharing any of the infor-
mation on Clayton State alumni.
“Once the alumni directory is published,
all data collected by Harris Connect will
be sent to Clayton State,” she says. “We
will use the information collected to
update our own alumni records, enabling
us to more reliably communicate the
news, information, and programs relevant
to our alumni.”
For more information on the Clayton
State Alumni Directory, go to the directo-
ry’s FAQ web page at https://giving.clay-
ton.edu/alumni/harris-directory-faq.