By SAMI MCGUIRE
Student Reporter
Scholarship-receiving students met last week to thank donors that make it possible for them to be part of Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
The fifth annual Thank-a-Thon was held at the Alva campus in the Ranger room from 5pm to 8pm. In charge of the event was the Northwestern Alumni Foundation, which is a separate entity from Northwestern, but everything they do is for the school.
Students met each night, ate pizza and snacks and received free t-shirts. Besides the students, some donors were also invited to the event so that they could meet and hang out with the students.
According to Susan Holliday, relationship manager of the foundation and alumni association, “Our donors love to talk to the students, and it gives the students a good opportunity to put faces with names of individuals that have set up scholarships and supported different programs at Northwestern.”
Groups that attended the Alva Thank-a-Thon included: the cheerleading team, the Student Government Association, the soccer team, the nursing students, Delta Zeta, the football team, the softball team, both basketball teams, the Northwest Scholar Ambassadors, Alpha Sigma Alpha, the baseball team, the Psychology Club, the Castle Players and the University Singers.
On Monday night there was also a continuation of the Thank-a-Thon at the Enid campus. Groups that attended there were the Leadership class, Psychology Club, Conserving Our Ranger Environment and the Student Oklahoma Education Association.
On Thursday night the Alumni took a break from regular Thank-a-Thon actives and had a donor dinner on the Alva campus. Students did not attend the dinner, but alumni members, donors and other members were all present. This was just another way of thanking the donors, said Holliday.
According to Holliday, they reached their goals for the Thank-a-Thon. The Alva event had 215 students attend and the Enid event had 13. They also had several coaches and faculty members come as well. A total of 1,511 thank you notes were written as well as 373 calls were made.
Holliday said this year they had a separate group of 10 student volunteers, kind of like the leadership committee, that helped update things and plan for the event. These students attended every evening and worked the event by helping students if they have questions and making phone calls.
Holliday thanked the students that attended the Thank-a-Thon by saying, “Hearing thank you from the students and that they are grateful for the scholarships they have received means so much to our donors and we couldn’t do this event without the help of the students.”