Jack Reickel

ROAR Day allows individuals to participate within their means and break through the monetary limitations of a fellow student. As long as the dollar donated isn’t missed and the receiving body doesn’t mind the extra two dollars they are endowed, everybody wins. Although I have never received any scholarships from RIT, not for lack trying, I feel this is a do unto others as you would have done unto you, situation. I don’t view donating as giving to RIT; I see it as giving to students like me in need of financial aid.

It is not a matter of RIT panhandling the student body for money. It is not about squeezing every dime out of a student, when tuition is already so high. It is about drawing in outside support and donations from alumni, so among other benefits, the weight of paying to go here may one day be lessened by endowments. Student donations serve beneficial role in statistics. It doesn’t matter how much money a student gives, it only matters that they give. This allows their name to be listed as an in-house supporter of RIT. As in-house supporters grow, alumni and outside sources see how much members of RIT care and are thus more likely to donate themselves. This brings in much more revenue than panhandling students could ever bring. And this all happens if a student donates any amount, even a penny. And if the student makes a donation it is matched by Dr. Destler and company (D-CO).

Imagine giving 50 cents. You effectively force D-CO to give fifty 50 which in turn gives a student program here at RIT a dollar. On top of raising money for programs all students use, your money comes right back in ice cream which costs the administration at least another 50 cents. You are also entered into a raffle which is more free stuff for students. All this comes together to increase the likely-hood of an outside source donating, which will again benefit student programs you participate in. So, really you immediately get back at least 150 percent on your donation to RIT with potential further gains.

Part of lending support to ROAR Day requires one to recognize a good intention through poor execution. It is hard to give up money to a blanket cause. The information about where the money is going is weighed down by many possible outcomes. A donation could end up split between programs and people throughout RIT, with scholarships just being one. In that situation, one may not have given a donation, but the program allows one to choose where their money should end up. As long as the donation gets where the contributor sees fit, it is worth giving a little up to help someone in need.

It is good that the faculty and staff see a need to raise donations for students and student run programs and are taking the steps to fulfill that need. They spent time and effort putting this program together for all students and have even made arrangements to double all student donations. This is a key point for support, because D-CO isn’t asking us to do something they aren’t willing to do themselves.