The Senior Class Gift Committee has worked since October to narrow down three possible choices for the graduating class’ gift, and starting on Monday, the senior class will be able to vote for the gift of its choice via an emailed survey.

This year’s senior class gift will be an endowed scholarship, as it has been since 2010. The senior class will choose among a scholarship awarded to transfer students, one for out-of state-students or a scholarship for students who demonstrate exceptional leadership and involvement with volunteer on-campus activities.

The chosen scholarship option will be put into place next year, and juniors and seniors at St. Thomas who have a minimum GPA of 2.5 will be eligible to apply.

Jonna Hadaway, a St. Thomas development officer and the liaison for the Student Legacy Program, said the gift is a very important tradition at the university.

“It’s a tradition that St. Thomas is very proud of because we’re extremely proud of our students at St. Thomas,” Hadaway said. “It’s a way for our students to say ‘thank you’ to their professors and staff and to become part of the alumni at St. Thomas.”

While most endowed scholarships at St. Thomas require a minimum of $50,000 to start, the senior class gift has no monetary goal. Instead, it aims for at least 65 percent participation from the senior class, a record set by the class of 2010.

The senior class gift will also benefit from gift matching received from different on-campus organizations and alumni, which is based on the amount of senior participation.

Jaqi Childers, Student Legacy Program president, said participation doesn’t require a huge commitment, and that any participation will be rewarded.

“Even if students give a dollar, that’s participation. The donation will get them a certificate when they graduate and acknowledgement in that respect,” Childers said.

Childers said participation starts with voting on the scholarship for the senior class gift.

“Last year only a small amount of students actually participated (in the voting), so we’re really hoping to get a lot of students to vote and pick which gift they actually want to give,” Childers said.

Voting on the senior class gift will end at the beginning of the spring semester and fundraising for the chosen scholarship will begin late in the spring, mainly at senior events in April and May.

Hadaway said the Senior Class Gift Committee will be at many events collecting donations, including cap and gown pick up and the senior banquet.

Senior Class President Sara Greethurst said while she recognizes it might be tough to get seniors to donate, she has high hopes for participation rates.

“It will be a challenge. We already have to pay a lot in tuition, and it’s hard for students to give more money, but I would really like to see that barrier broken and get more participation,” Greethurst said.

Hadaway said the Senior Class Gift Committee hopes for participation, no matter the size of the gift.

“We’re just encouraging all seniors to consider a gift, a gift of any size,” Hadaway said. “We hope that people would be generous, but we would also like them to feel comfortable with the size of the gift.”

Hadaway said the senior class wants to make this year’s gift especially great.

“I know the Senior Class Gift Committee would really like to present Father Dease with a wonderful scholarship at commencement,” Hadaway said. “It will be his last year, and they would really like to honor him with great participation from their whole class.”

Gabrielle Martinson can be reached at mart5649@stthomas.edu.