The Development Office and Student Senate will come together on Wednesday, April 10, in the Student Center between noon and 1 p.m. to host Tuition Freedom Day to remind current Ouachita students of the donors who give money to put help pay for their tuition. The students will write thank you notes to show appreciation.
Tuition Freedom Day is a day for students to be made aware of how the Annual Fund affects their tuition. The Annual Fund provides aid for students as well as funds to help the University.
“The annual fund and the efforts of the entire team in the area of undesignated giving is critical,” said Terry Peeples, vice president of development.
The cost that each student pays for tuition and room and board only covers 80 percent of what it actually costs to be at Ouachita. The other 20 percent comes from the donors. The money that is donated helps to pay for things such as the light bill and water bill and more importantly the faculty salaries.
“When I was a student from 1979 to 1983, I never knew that our tuition did not pay all the bills of the university,” Peeples said. “Now as vice president for development, I am fully aware of how important gifts are to OBU. Gifts to OBU are utilized to fund scholarships, buildings and technology just to mention a few [things].”
Around 1,600 people, mostly alumni, donate to the Annual Fund each year in order to make sure that every student at Ouachita does not have to pay that extra 20 percent.
“I love the symbolism of the whole thing,” said Emily Merryman, director of development, operations and annual giving. “The idea that an entire community of Ouachita alumni that loved their Ouachita experience are able to give back and then be thanked by the very students that they support.”
Tuition Freedom Day is symbolically recognized around a date that marks that 80 percent of the academic school year has been completed. This shows that from that point on, the rest of the school year is being paid by the donors.
“I was a student that benefited from the gifts of alumni,” Merryman said, “I am able to give back to the Annual Fund at Ouachita, and I’m able to facilitate acts of gratitude to others.”
This is a time for students to show how thankful they are for what the donors give to the Annual Fund. This is also a time for students to learn about what the Annual Fund is, how it personally affects them and what it does.
“It’s a chance to recognize how awesome our donors are, and how grateful we are that they make a difference in our lives,” Merryman said, “It’s also a moment to realize what an education at Ouachita is worth, and how we should be grateful for it.”
For more information about Tuition Freedom Day, contact Lindsay Fowler at fow46600@obu.edu.
