Philanthropy contributes to EWU General Scholarship

Kristie Hsin

Senior Reporter

All donations from the “Round It Up for Scholarships” project will contribute to the EWU General Scholarship Fund.

“Round It Up for Scholarships,” a campaign implemented to help raise money for the EWU General Scholarship, runs Jan. 17-31. This is the first time the university has implemented the project.

The Office of Alumni Advancement, EWU bookstores and ASEWU have teamed up to help raise money through philanthropy.

The purpose of this project is to promote philanthropy and to show the students that we need to work together, according to ASEWU President Oscar Ocaña.

Ocaña and ASEWU university advancement representative Hayden Indahl are leading the promotion of this campaign. Director of Alumni Advancement Lisa Poplawski was the mastermind behind the project.

According to Indahl, the associated students were contacted to collaborate with Alumni Advancement on this campaign.

“They wanted to have us represent the campaign so that the students saw us and that they can see that we’re actually working for them, … that we’re not just sitting around doing nothing,” said Indahl. “I think it’s important for the students to see that there are projects going on to benefit them and that they can see that they’re actually being part of building up those scholarships.”

This is just a pilot project and the associated students would like to take it further. Assuming it is successful, the campaign will run twice a year, according to Ocaña.

“We only wanted to make it two weeks for each time we do this,” said Associate Director of Alumni Advancement Pat Spanjer. “We want it to be something fresh and new every time we do this.”

Most scholarships are funded by the generosity of donors. With increasing state budget cuts leading to an increase in tuition, students face more and more financial difficulties.

The university awards more than $1.9 million in scholarships to approximately 1,000 students every year. Scholarship eligibility requirements vary depending on the scholarships.

Ocaña says it’s difficult to ask students to donate when they’re the ones needing the money and scholarships. He feels this project is one of the first steps in reaching out to students and their needs.

“It is really important to me because as history has shown, unfortunately our student government hasn’t been that involved outside with the student population,” said Ocaña. “My predecessors were engaged with the internal and institution side. They definitely accomplished a lot, but there wasn’t so much from the student population side.”

ASEWU fronted $400 to purchase 14 or 15 white piggy banks to place around Cheney. The Grove, Copy Junction, Owl Pharmacy, Harvest Foods, Eagles Pub, and Tree of Knowledge are just a few of the many places people can donate.

The Cheney and Spokane EWU bookstores are the only places donors can round up their amounts. Other local businesses have the piggy banks for donations.

“They can’t round up the amount because that takes a special mechanism in the cash registers to be able to do that and the Eastern bookstores were really glad to help us out with that and get the mechanism in the cash registers to be able to round up. We’re not asking businesses to do that,” Spanjer said.

“Round It Up for Scholarships” will benefit the university and the Alumni Advancement by increasing revenue for and awareness of the EWU General Scholarship Fund, increasing philanthropy opportunities and increasing the visibility of the bookstores in Cheney and Spokane.

“I think it’s also great that we are really spurring on a culture of philanthropy among our students so that they can understand that they can also help their fellow students receive scholarships that help them go to Eastern,” said Spanjer.

“We’re actually putting up a full-size poster of [Indahl] at the bookstore. … He’s holding a chart that we’re going to put markers on where we are from day to day.”

As of Wednesday, Jan 18, Cheney had 596 transactions and collected $202.27 in donations. Spokane had 24 transactions and collected $10.91. The final total will be determined by Feb. 1.

“We could not do this without the bookstore. [There] has to be a lot of initiative from the cashier to promote it and say, ‘Hey, do you want to round up your amount?’ … If the cashier did not promote it, then it dies there,” said Ocaña. “Sometimes a penny can make a big difference when you multiply that by 10,000.”