By Belle Vang, COSS Communications Student Assistant
Fresno State’s third annual Day of Giving (DOG) kicked off with the College of Social Sciences (COSS) winning the first challenge as a Mock Trial student, Madison Firstman, made the very first gift of the 24-hour event at midnight on Thursday, November 7th.
Over ten percent of the 2,000 unique Fresno State donors focused their gifts on COSS throughout the 24-hour time period. COSS highlighted three particular programs for donors to focus on this year’s DOG: Jewish Studies, Social Sciences Dean’s Circle, and Women’s Studies.
Jewish Studies focuses on studying the contemporary context of Jewish heritage; the gifts given to the program supports students’ hands-on experience of interacting with speakers and getting involved with community events. Social Sciences Dean’s Circle funds internships and student research while providing travel opportunities for students to participate in education-based involvement. Women’s Studies examines local and global perspectives by addressing the context of gender applied to diversity, privilege, and power; the gifts given to the Women’s Studies program enable students to pursue funded internships and furthers their educational experiences by attending professional events.
Dr. Kathryn Forbes, Women’s Studies Program Coordinator, challenged faculty, staff, students, alumni, friends and community members to participate by committing to donate $1,000 if ten gifts were donated within the 24-hour time frame. Dr. Forbes’ challenge proved a success as many gifts were made before the midpoint of DOG, unlocking her $1,000 gift towards the Women’s Studies program.
The giving spirit didn’t stop there! Although DOG was designed for community members, alumni, and faculty and staff to support Fresno State students, current students pursued several opportunities to help their colleges win challenges. Noah Pennington (student) earned $1,000 for COSS by posting the most creative selfie. Throughout the day faculty, staff, and ambassadors continued to show moral support and headed to Que Pasa Restaurant at Campus Pointe to show their team spirit, winning COSS the “Get Your Happy On” challenge.
Not only did we start the day with a win, we ended it with another as one of our departments donated the very last gift of the night and ended DOG as third on college rankings of most donors at 233 gifts. It was a day filled with fun and enthusiastic team spirit as faculty, staff, and students participated in the challenges. We look forward to next year’s challenges and challenge you to finish off this semester with as much success as you’ve helped us achieve on this year’s Day of Giving.
Fresno State College of Social Sciences 