On Sept. 1, the Office of Donor Relations and Stewardship, a unit of the Office of Development, hosted a reception in Memorial Hall Ballroom to thank current and retired faculty and staff donors who helped the university achieve its best fundraising year in history.
In fiscal year 2016, a record-breaking 2,064 faculty, staff and retiree contributors gave nearly $5.7 million, a 43 percent increase over last year.
UGA President Jere W. Morehead and Kelly Kerner, vice president for development and alumni relations, thanked the nearly 250 attendees and talked about how their support is making a difference at the university.
“Thank you for your generosity and for the outstanding example you are setting for our alumni and friends,” Morehead said. “Your unyielding support is at the center of every step we take forward at this great university.”
“Your gifts demonstrate an incredible commitment to the university’s mission,” said Kerner. “As we enter the public phase of the capital campaign this November, it is especially important for potential donors to see this commitment from those who work on our campuses and with our students each and every day.”
The event was sock-hop-themed, a gesture to one of the previous uses for the ballroom as a space for dances and proms. Attendees sipped Coke floats and snacked on popcorn, high-fived mascot Hairy Dawg, and donned cat-eye glasses and Elvis hair at the photo booth.