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Alumni Relations
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Salem State University is home to a community of dreamers and doers. When we encounter obstacles, we rise to meet them, with the help of unrestricted giving.
Alumni and friends who support unrestricted giving are committed to ensuring that the needs of the university are being met. In 2020, over 700 donors raised $378,457.96 in unrestricted giving.
Here are just a few ways unrestricted funds have helped our Vikings rise:
- Each year, the foundation works with other sources of funding to support and supplement awards, ensuring that student scholarships continue to meet the rising costs of education. The power of unrestricted giving is that the university can allocate funding where it is most needed, allowing students and other community members to thrive at Salem State.
- Starting in 2019, business students at Salem State have benefited from the Cabot Wealth Management Lab which is supported by unrestricted donations and allows students to gain hands-on experience with financial, regulatory, research, and market data points to inform learning that will make them marketable in a competitive business environment. This lab is outfitted with 12 Bloomberg Terminals, a software platform that is widely recognized as the market standard for financial analysis.
- With the help of unrestricted funds, we have invested energy and resources into ensuring that the office of inclusive excellence is able to provide support in its fullest capacity by increasing its operating budget. This has allowed the diversity and inclusion staff to implement strategies and initiatives that have contributed to our positive campus climate over the past year. These initiatives included the Education and Training Fall 2020 series, an undertaking that allowed members of the community to participate in lectures and workshops. These ranged from a workshop titled, “Making Anti-Racist Space: Including all students, addressing racism and teaching course material,” led by Faculty Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion Professor Keja Valens, to the Forum for Tolerance 2020, titled “Black Lives Matter: the U.S. Journey towards Justice and Healing.”
- The Salem State Student Emergency Fund provides support to students struggling with financial hardship through unexpected circumstances such as unemployment, medical expenses and housing and food insecurity. Thanks to unrestricted donations from generous alumni and donors, the emergency fund has allowed—and will continue to allow—students to prosper at Salem State without having to worry about how they will meet their basic needs while studying.
According to Elaine A. Zetes ’88G, there is a degree of trust in the institution that informs her decision to give unrestricted dollars. She says, “When I give unrestricted dollars through the Annual Fund, I know I’m giving to an institution that is well managed. It doesn’t matter what amount you give—every unrestricted dollar goes to further the goals of Salem State and its students.