The University of Denver Recent Graduate Committee, along with other recent graduates in Colorado, has raised more than $35,000 in support of DU’s ASCEND campaign.
The committee, which includes alumni who graduated within the past decade, rose to the challenge set forth by Board of Trustees member Margot Gilbert Frank and her husband, M Allan Frank, to raise $25,000. They surpassed the goal within six months, and a year after the challenge was issued, they collectively have raised more than $38,000. The money will help fund the new Academic Commons at Penrose Library, opening in early 2013.
Kate Bleakly, co-social chair for the committee, thinks the group can have a strong influence within the DU community.
“DU has opened doors for me and helped me achieve my goals on my career path, and as a proud member of the DU alumni community, it’s now my turn to play a role in ensuring new DU students have even better college experiences in store for them,” Bleakly says. “I volunteer my time on the Recent Graduate Committee, and I donate monthly to the Recent Graduate Challenge that’s part of DU’s Ascend campaign. It’s a way for each of us to help ensure that the University of Denver is the best it can be.”
A study room in the new library will be named in honor of the Recent Graduate Committee and all of the recent graduate donors. In addition, a “Casino Night” event was held in June at the Joy Burns Center in the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management to thank the alumni for their contributions to the University.