Senior Class Leaves its Signature

They won’t become alumni until Sunday, but more than 100 members of the Class of 2005 have already made donations to the university.

The annual Senior Signature campaign culminated Wednesday with the unveiling of a plaque naming the 110 graduating seniors who made gifts to the university of $20.05 each.

This is the sixth consecutive graduating class to participate in Senior Signature and to have a class plaque mounted outside the University Commons. During the summer, a new courtyard will be built in front of the main entrance to the Commons, in honor of those six classes.

Among the names on the Class of 2005 plaque is that of Barbara Klemmer, who served as director of alumni relations until her death last June at the age of 39. Klemmer, who was a driving force behind the Senior Signature program, was declared an honorary member of the graduating class, and a moment of silence was held in her memory during Wednesday’s ceremony.

The goal of the Senior Signature program is to encourage students to continue to support the university after they graduate, and to become active and involved alumni.

Douglas Wilcox, who will graduate on Sunday with a degree in mechanical engineering, said that the Senior Signature program “is a way to forever link my name to the university.”

As an engineering student, Wilcox has closely followed the construction of the new ISET complex. He said it has provided a powerful example of what a difference financial support can make.

“I hope someday that I can make a bigger contribution, but this is a good way to start,” Wilcox said. “Maybe in the next few years some of the underclassmen who know me will see my name on the plaque, and they’ll say ‘Doug did it, so I can do it too.’ “