Robert Nelson
rjn001@marietta.edu
Feb. 14, 2020 – MARIETTA, OH – Marietta College alumni, students, faculty and staff crushed Founder’s Day involvement standards, with 1,200 members of the Long Blue Line setting a new record of over $192,000 donated; the recently included name of this day, “Day of Giving”, was proven to be in full affect this February 14th. M.C. found new ways to bring attention to the 185th anniversary of this day, as new methods of competition and social media use were implemented by the people in-charge of putting this legendary day together, both raising money and celebrating the college’s history.
Marietta College’s institution was founded on February 14th, 1835, and they have turned it into a day where the entire Long Blue Line, or community of M.C. students, staff, faculty, and alumni, come together to show their love for the college. Marietta College was established to provide higher education in the frontier known as the Northwest Territory. Henry Smith, an early faculty member and Marietta College President from 1846-1855, explained the early times to be “a most emphatic illustration of the foolhardiness of young men and the wisdom of God in accomplishing his own purposes by such human folly. Men of experience would have shrunk from the work, as a desperate and foolhardy enterprise, the work of attempting to build a college in an almost inaccessible western town.” Smith understood the difficulties that came with attempting to build a college in such a location, but he believed in the ability of the people around him to make it successful. Now, the college has been able to make yearly advancements through the support of amazing alumni, as they almost expect to break Founder’s Day donation records annually.
The class of 1970 won this year’s competition with more participation than any other class. The class of 1984 had a strong 16.5% participation, and the class of 1985 trailed behind with 14.6% participation; neither could catch the class of 1970, who had a whopping 17.7% participation in donations. They will obtain the luxury of receiving free drinks at next year’s Homecoming Weekend.
Another battle was in place, as all current and prior fraternities and sororities clashed in a Greek version of the competition. Chi Omega came out on top, with 12.4% participation, their house wins $250 as the top prize. Following closely behind them was Alpha Xi Delta with 9.9% participation, and they were awarded $100 as the first runner up.
Marietta College’s birthday has been transformed into a day where this college comes together to build upon our consistent advancements each year. Last year, M.C. spent the donations on many things, such as a new field for the football, baseball, and soccer teams. Also, the college further improved the Ban Johnson Arena with the addition of a jumbotron, along with developing more student-friendly class environments and events.
For more information visit https://www.marietta.edu/founders-day and https://www.givecampus.com/schools/MariettaCollege/2020-day-of-giving/?a=3527741#updates.
