Spotlight on Student Giving

(Photo: Allen McInnis)

An ambassador for McGill: Gaelan Love, BA'09, leads prospective students and their families on a campus tour.

It might be the best-kept secret around, but McGill students have been among the most loyal – and the most generous – donors in the University’s history.

From 1983, when student referenda were first implemented, until 2014, the end date to the most recent referenda, students will have collectively given more than $30-million in support of bursaries, library improvements, student services, and athletic facilities. And during the timeframe of Campaign McGill, student commitments will have surpassed $8-million.

Paying it forward

“It’s an effort that everyone can feel good about,” says Ryan Tomicic, BEng’04, and a current McGill law student, who spearheaded the recent Students’ Athletics Council (SAC) referendum. He points to the many improvements over the years to McGill’s athletic facilities, thanks to generations of students voting to give back and pay forward.

And McGill undergraduates have recently renewed their commitment to the Library Improvement Fund and the Access Bursary Fund. “Students really see the need for this,” says Ivan Neilson, President of the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) and a fourth-year student in economics and finance.

“Better access through bursaries is crucial, and the library is an integral component of the McGill experience,” Neilson says. Students at the Macdonald Campus have also contributed to the beautiful new Macdonald Library and Learning Centre which opened in 2006.

Now graduate students have stepped forward with their first gift. The membership of the Post Graduate Students’ Society (PGSS) voted in March 2008 to establish a bursary fund for graduate students. The University will match these funds dollar for dollar, as it does with the SAC and SSMU gifts.

“We are delighted to establish this fund,” says newly-elected PGSS President, Daniel Simeone, a master’s student in history. “This bursary will help our fellow graduate students do what they do best: research and teach.”

A class act

McGill students have also given back in a big way through McGill’s graduating gift program. Since its inception in 1989, Class Action has raised over $1.16-million, including more than $81,000 since the start of Campaign McGill, to support everything from energy-efficient heat reflector shields to the Deep Fried Fuel Project which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus.

“Our students have always shown great leadership,” says Marc Weinstein, Vice-Principal (Development and Alumni Relations). “They have always looked for ways to make McGill an even better place to be.”

A note from McGill history

In 1945–46, students contributed $35,000 (almost $413,000 by today’s standards) for the War Memorial Hall and War Memorial Pool.