RELEASED: June 4, 2009

DANVILLE, KY—With only a few weeks left until the College’s fiscal year ends on June 30, Centre alumni who haven’t yet made a gift to The Centre Fund still have a chance to help the College maintain its reputation for having the nation’s most loyal alumni, as measured by the percentage of alumni making annual gifts.

Shawn Lyons, Centre’s associate vice president for development and alumni affairs says that alumni giving is especially important this year.

“Centre continues to offer need-based financial aid to over 60 percent of our students, unlike many of the other national liberal arts colleges who have much lower percentages of students receiving assistance. The economic pressures on those families make it more important than ever that Centre has the financial resources to help deserving students pursue their educational dreams. Of course, we know that many of our alumni are also confronting economic concerns of their own. That’s why we’re asking all alumni to give whatever they can afford, even if they have to trim their previous levels of giving.

"This isn’t really about chasing a record. It's about ensuring that Centre remains the kind of place that can offer a world-class education to worthy students, most of whom couldn’t be here without financial aid," Lyons adds. "Because our endowment is smaller than most of our peers and we also have a higher percentage of students who need assistance, we rely heavily on the generosity of our alumni."

Lyons continues, "Particularly gratifying is the number of alumni who report that they're still paying off their own student loans or paying for graduate school, but think it is important to send even a small gift to Centre to make sure others have the same opportunities they did."

We encourage all alumni to check to see if they have made their 2008-09 Centre Fund gift by clicking here (PDF) or here to see a list of all alumni donors in order of their class years. The list includes all alumni who have made gifts or pledges as of June 1 (pledges must be received by June 30 to maintain a listing in the annual Donor Report). Alumni, or others, wishing to make a gift before June 30 can do so online (click here) or can call the Alumni Office at 859-238-5500 or toll-free at 877-678-9822.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.