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50th Reunion Class Gifts Honor Meredith and Support the Student Experience

A 50th reunion is a meaningful milestone, and classes celebrating this significant occasion take part in the tradition of generously giving back to Meredith College. Officially launched in 2016 with the Class of 1971, the 50th reunion gift program encourages support for a class gift that will have a lasting impact at Meredith.

Weather Spoon Gymnasium and brick pathway to fitness center.In spring, the Class of 1974 celebrated its 50th reunion and honored Meredith by raising $251,218 to support equipment and facility improvements for Meredith Athletics. Beginning at their 45th reunion class meeting in 2019, classmates learned how they could fund a reunion gift that would play an important role in shaping Meredith’s future. Over the next five years, class gift agents Judy Williams, ’74, and Linda Thompson Fairchild, ’74, partnered with staff in Institutional Advancement to help their class reach its philanthropic goal of $250,000 and support a College priority. The class’s gift for athletic initiatives not only supports student-athletes but all students and the College as a whole.

Each year, the 50th reunion class gift program embodies the connections among Meredith classmates and demonstrates the loyalty of our alumnae. The College is grateful for the work of the reunion class volunteers and the generosity of the donors who commemorate their 50th reunion with a legacy that will benefit Meredith for years to come. Typical reunion class gifts include endowments, special initiatives, and campus improvements that support current and future Meredith students.

Jones Chapel Entrance showing steps columns and steeple hidden behind trees.As the Class of 1975 prepares to celebrate its 50th reunion in May 2025, the class has raised $196,423 to date toward its $250,000 goal of endowing the Chaplain’s Fund, a type of student emergency fund to cover financial needs as they arise. These needs include but are not limited to transportation home for an emergency, medications if prescriptions have lapsed and there is no other funding, the Daisy Trade campus food pantry, and basic nutrition education. Gift Agent Sherri McGee, ’75, communicates the importance of philanthropy with her classmates and inspires them to take action with a gift to their reunion class endowment. Once their reunion gift goal is met, their endowment will provide funding in perpetuity to the Chaplain’s Fund.

Tonita Few, the reunion giving officer in the Meredith Fund Office, works with class gift agents like McGee to help the classes continue the tradition of reunion giving. 

“The 50th reunion gifts are a testament to the unwavering dedication that alumnae have for Meredith College. One of my greatest joys of working with these reunion classes is witnessing the generations of strong Meredith women who give unselfishly to support current and future generations of strong Meredith women,” says Few.

Melyssa Allen

News Director
316 Johnson Hall
(919) 760-8087
Fax: (919) 760-8330

allenme@meredith.edu