Students take to the phones in search of scholarship funds

By Darla Brown

Everyone knows students love to talk on the phone. The Office of Development and Alumni Relations put that favorite hobby to work as medical students, for the first time, called alumni to raise money for the Alumni Association’s 1,000 x 500 Campaign for Scholarships.

Student volunteers manned the phone lines the week of July 21. The phone campaign targeted all alumni – those who have already given were thanked, and those who have not were asked to do so.

The goal of the 1,000 x 500 Campaign for Scholarships is for 1,000 alumni and friends of UT Medical School to each give a gift of $500 – thereby boosting the alumni association scholarship fund by half a million dollars.

Over the four nights of calling, students secured 87 pledges from alumni. Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo, M.D., joined the students in the calling Tuesday night, and other faculty members helped to call and thank donors.

“The support shown thus far is very encouraging. We are not only trying to raise the amount of scholarships we give out but also increase our alumni giving rate, which has jumped to 4.6 percent from less than 1 percent over the past year,” says Claire Lindsay, director of development.

Donations are being accepted from nonalumni as well. To donate, and join the ranks of the generous contributors to this campaign, see www.utmshalumni.org/1000x500.