The University of Georgia Class of 2022 entered college as a record-setting group, arriving with the highest average weighted high school GPA in the school’s history. They will leave with yet another distinction: 3,047 students made a Senior Signature gift to the university, a record for the 31-year-old program.
Through the Senior Signature program, students approaching graduation have an opportunity to make a gift to the schools, colleges, units or programs that impacted their UGA experience. In appreciation of their donations, the university puts student donors’ names on a plaque that is placed in Tate Plaza.
(Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)
“I’m proud to be a part of the Class of 2022,” said Kevin Nwogu, president of the UGA Student Alumni Council, which helps lead the Senior Signature campaign. “We’ve experienced some incredible highs and some challenging lows as this university has bonded us together, helping us to create memories and friendships to last a lifetime. With these gifts, we celebrate UGA’s role in this chapter of our lives and do our part to ensure the experience and opportunities at UGA are even better for many classes to come.”
Detail of the Senior Signature plaques in Tate Plaza marking the senior class gifts. (Photo by Dorothy Kozlowski/UGA)
As part of the Senior Signature campaign, a portion of each gift goes to support the Class Gift, an initiative where Senior Signature donors of the graduating class provide financial support to one student organization for the upcoming year. The 2022 Class Gift was awarded to the UGA chapter of the National Student Speech Language Hearing Association, a club for individuals interested in the communication sciences and disorders major or the fields of speech-language pathology/audiology. The chapter received $6,000, which will support the academic experience of graduate students in their pursuit of becoming speech-language pathologists.
This year, many Senior Signature donors also played a part in another UGA success: Georgia Giving Day. The 24-hour, university-wide fundraising effort garnered over 9,300 gifts to UGA on March 31, which was the final day to give to Senior Signature. More than 500 students contributed to the record-breaking Senior Signature campaign as well as Georgia Giving Day.
Senior Signature was established in 1991. Since then, more than 40,000 students have donated to UGA through the program. Learn more about Senior Signature at alumni.uga.edu/seniorsignature.