Fall phone-a-thon raises $62,570 for scholarships

By Carrie Mitchell
Norwich Guidon Staff Writer

This year's fall phone-a-thon brought in $62,570 toward student scholarships, according to the development office.

The fundraiser was quite a success according to Carolyn Mitchell, who works in the development office and supervised the phone-a-thon.

The fall alumni phone-a-thon, an annual event sponsored by the university, brings students and Norwich alumni together in a fundraiser where students ask graduates to pledge money to the scholarship fund.

Held in Hassett House on the Northfield campus, this year's effort had student volunteers calling more than 8,300 alumni.

"The working atmosphere was great," said William Knox, a 21-year-old communications major from Basking Ridge, N.J. "I got to talk to some really cool alumni."

Joel C. Crawford, a 20-year-old peace, war and diplomacy major, agreed with Knox.

"The alumni you call have really interesting stories to tell about when they went to Norwich and what they like about the university," Crawford said.

The phone-a-thon raised an impressive number of pledges according to Vincent Thomas, a 19-year-old criminal justice major from Pascoag, R.I., who added that 37 percent of the alumni who were contacted gave to Norwich. The pledge amount reached a total of $62,570.

"I think it's great that the responsibility to run the phone-a-thon is delegated to the students," Thomas said.

Students who volunteer to call alumni are paid hourly, receive a free phone call every night they work and enjoy homemade goodies, which are provided to the students by faculty during the phone-a-thon.

"I'd definitely do this again. The food was great," Knox said.

Another phone-a-thon will be held next spring. Students interested in participating should contact Carolyn Mitchell in the Development Office at 485-2079.

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