It was the kind of excitement the Wolfpack was used to in March. Buzzer beaters, upsets and runaway wins were the norm.
By 9 p.m. on March 20, every alumnus, faculty and staff member, student and friend making a gift to the College of Engineering on Day of Giving set a new record. Previously, the highest single day total for gifts raised was 1,725. By 11 p.m., the College was just 50 gifts shy of meeting its highest goal of 2,000 gifts. Within 30 minutes, the COE community surpassed that goal, culminating in 2,172 gifts by midnight.
This year’s success will result in tangible benefits for the College’s students, faculty members and staff members. For example, the Department of Computer Science will use the gifts to continue recruiting new faculty members and helping them start their lives and careers in Raleigh, North Carolina. The Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering will purchase student memberships to the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, creating opportunities for students to apply for more scholarships and make important industry connections.
Jim Pfaendtner, Louis Martin-Vega Dean of Engineering, celebrated the day with Mr. and Ms. Wuf around Centennial Campus. They visited students at popular Centennial hangout spaces — the On the Oval Food Hall and the Corner — and dropped by some of the industry partners’ on-campus offices to say hello to alumni and thank them for their generosity.
Alumni Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, best known as the duo behind the YouTube channel Good Mythical Morning, established the Rhett & Link Engineering Innovation Scholarship Fund for one third- or fourth-year student. This full-ride scholarship will allow one student the freedom to fearlessly pursue mythicality, the trait integral to their brand. They describe mythicality as “a desire to learn and do new things, an appreciation of originality and a tendency to not take yourself too seriously.”
This gift from the College’s most internet-famous alumni helped spur on the remarkable day, as did two anonymous major gifts of $1.25 million and $2 million each. Overall, the College raised $4,841,507.
Alumni banded together to win three hourly giving challenges for the College and unlocked every departmental giving challenge, resulting in an additional $77,814 raised. The Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering won the competition among departments, receiving 353 gifts.
Thank you to our major donors
- John and Happy Amein
- Michael Creed
- Dick and Wanda Franklin
- Candance Gingles
- Basil Hassan
- Jake and Jennifer Hooks
- Yan Kolbas
- Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal
- Ioannis Papapanagiotou
- Don and Joan Stancil
- David L. Stout, Jr.
The numbers listed in this article are the official numbers. They are different from what was reported on the Day of Giving website, which was not updated after Day of Giving officially ended at 11:59 p.m. on March 20.
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