Superdonors unite

Three lucky students receive bursaries from the University of Calgary Superfund during Orientation Week 2011

By Erin Mason

More than 2,500 first-year students received their official welcome to the University of Calgary at a Sept. 6 induction ceremony and 2011 Class Ambassadors–Kay She, BA’11, and Nauman Saeed Anwar, MBA’11–were members of the welcoming party.

She and Anwar presented the first-year students with their Class of 2015 pin and their class banner and shared their experience and advice as University of Calgary alumni. They also presented three new $1,000 bursaries from the University of Calgary Superfund, a preferred fund for alumni donors.

This year’s bursary recipients were Rauth Clement from the Faculty of Arts, Alex Smith from the Faculty of Arts and Education and orientation leader Matt Castillo from the Faculty of Science.

Smith is planning to pursue a major in political science and was at work when he received the good news. “This money will help a lot,” he says.

Clement, a newcomer to Calgary, is looking forward to meeting new people and exploring his new city. “This bursary is going to ease the burden a lot. It means I have more money to spend on food, living and other important things.”

Castillo has had the financial support of his parents throughout his degree, so the bursary was welcome news for them, too. “Helping me pay will be less of a burden for them now,” he says.

“Our alumni family of 145,000 has a longstanding tradition of supporting students,” says Alumni Association President Ken McKinnon. “These bursaries will help our recipients reach their educational goals and enable them to make the most of their university experience.”

The Superfund has three key areas of focus: empowering students, empowering change and empowering success. It was designed to combine Annual Giving gifts from the University of Calgary community to fund urgent projects and areas of greatest need. Since its inception in 2009, our alumni and friends have contributed over $365,000 to the Superfund.

To support University of Calgary students through the Superfund, please click here.