A New Tradition: The Hilltop Challenge

The Hilltop Challenge, launched by the Alumni Board of Governors on March 1, 2010, is a class giving competition providing decade awards and an overall award to classes based on the percentage of alumni in each class who provide a financial gift in a given fiscal year (July 1 – June 30).

Crossing the finish line as the Hilltop Challenge overall winner in the first year of competition was the class of 1956. The class of 1952 occupied first place for almost the entire year, when a late surge of gifts from members of the class of 1956 just prior to the end of the fiscal year on June 30 put the class of 1956 in first place for good. A whopping 58.88% of the class of 1956 gave a gift between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010!

Decade awards went to the following classes:

• 1950s: 1956 – 58.88%
• 1960s: 1960 – 32.61%
• 1970s: 1979 – 21.35%
• 1980s: 1981 – 15.38%
• 1990s: 1990 – 13.95%
• 2000s: 2009 – 29.41%

Jewell alumni Eric Zahnd ’91 and Tyler Griffin ’01 headed up the Hill Challenge as co-captains.

“We are grateful to the many alumni who believe in Jewell and have risen to the Hilltop Challenge with their generous gifts,” Zahnd said. “When organizations like college ranking services or foundations look at alumni involvement, they consider primarily the percentage of alumni who give to the College. The amount of each gift is not as important to them as the percentage of participation among alumni.”

Griffin pointed out that all Jewell alumni have a vested interest in keeping the College strong. “By supporting Jewell financially, alumni are ensuring that quality programs and rich experiences are in place. As the value of a Jewell education rises, so does the value of the diploma each one of us received.”