Tuesday, Feb. 25 marked the second year of I Love the Hill Day. This day is a celebration of McDaniel, as well as a day of giving intended to encourage alumni, parents, students, and other people connected to McDaniel to donate. While I Love the Hill month has been celebrated for the past few years, the specific I Love the Hill Day event has only been around for the past two years.
During this month, there were a few opportunities for people to fill out papers where people were prompted to write what they love about the Hill on the front of the card and to write one word to describe McDaniel on the back.
Filling out one of these cards also gave students a voucher that they could then bring to the day of the event to receive a free t-shirt. These cards were hung up in on the windows of Ensor Lounge, as well as in Klitzberg Pavilion on the day of the event for the entire campus community to see.
This year, the goal of the event was to reach 578 donors, one for each member of the first-year class. By the end of the day, this goal was far exceeded with a total of 694 donors.
While the goal of the day was the number of donors as opposed to the amount of money raised, the total was $93,013, about 1.5 times the amount raised last year.
According to statistics provided by the Alumni Relations office, these donors covered 32 states, 56 alumni classes (ranging from 1959 to 2019), and 204 first time donors. Additionally, there were 54 percent alumni donors, 25 percent faculty/staff donors, and 11 percent parent donors.
This day also kicked off the beginning of the senior week availability, as senior donors are able to attend the annual crab feast, leading to a total of 108 senior class donors.
