The Senior Gift has been a Hamilton tradition for over 36 years. In the past, the gift has included a range of donations to the community, from funding benches around campus to funding scholarships for the arts with the Schambach Center for Music and Performing Arts.
Given the increasingly topical issue of mental health on college campuses, two of the last three senior gifts have been health and wellness initiatives. In a similar vein, the Class of 2019’s senior gift and contribution to the Hamilton community will be a reflection labyrinth.
Beginning with the Class of 1982, the senior gift has been selected by a senior gift committee made up of students from that year’s class. After a formal announcement of the gift to the Hamilton community, the committee holds several marketing events throughout the year in order to raise funds for the gift. These events allow the committee to engage with administration and alumni in addition to the student body.
As they begin their senior year, students are encouraged to join the Hamilton Alumni Leadership Training group (HALT). There are currently 70 members of HALT, including 7 HALT leaders taking the lead on the class gift. The Spectator sat down with Karthik Ravishankar ’19, senior class president and a HALT leader, to discuss this year’s senior gift.
The permanent structure of the reflection labyrinth will serve as a health and well-being resource for all community members. “We wanted our senior gift to have a long, lasting impact on the campus,” said Ravishankar. “We wanted to create something that wouldn’t go out of date and that would be here for many more years to come.”
The labyrinth seeks to improve campus life, and Ravishankar hopes students can look forward to seeing it again upon their return to the Hill for their 5-, 10-, and 15-year reunions, saying, “The goal for our senior gift, in particular, is to provide the larger student body with access to a resource which can improve and help develop mental health.
“Especially with the brand-new Health and Wellness Center that just debuted last weekend, we thought it was only natural to provide more resources for health and wellness.”
David Walden, Director of the Counseling Center, also commented on the functionality of the labyrinth and how it may help students during their time at Hamilton. “Walking in a labyrinth can help quiet the mind,” he said. “It’s another resource for any member of our community to reflect and recharge.” In order to respect the privacy of those walking in the reflection labyrinth, the structure will likely be built in a secluded area of campus.
For the past 24 years, the senior gift campaign has had over 90 percent participation from senior class members, with participation as high as 98 percent some years. The idea is to encourage students to begin the process of thinking about Hamilton as a philanthropic endeavor and commitment in their lives — how to pay their college experience forward. The senior gift campaign allows students to give back while celebrating their final year on the Hill.
Ravishankar says students can look for more information regarding the senior gift in the near future and adds that those who would like to contribute to the senior gift may do so at hamilton.edu/makeagift.
