MEADVILLE, Pa. – August 10, 2004 – Bucking the national trend, Allegheny's participation rate for alumni giving, now at 40 percent, is the highest it has been in seven years.

Last year's participation rate was 38 percent. Nationally, alumni giving rates, which are used by college guides such as U.S. News & World Report, declined slightly in 2003 according to a recent report by the Council for Aid to Education.

For the eighth year running giving to the Annual Fund by Allegheny's alumni, parents, employees, and friends set an all-time record, $3,102,733.

“To achieve a 40 percent alumni participation rate requires gifts at all levels. It is a tribute to the loyalty of thousands of our alumni who are committed to ensuring that Allegheny College remains one the nation's finest institutions of higher education,” said Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs John McCandless. “We are honored by and grateful for their support.”

As they did last year, Allegheny alumni Dag and Julie Grosjean Skattum, class of '84 and '85 respectively, led the charge for this year's fundraising by committing to match new and increased gifts to the College's Annual Fund.

The Annual Fund makes a difference every day in the life of every student. Gifts to the Annual Fund provide support for scholarships, academic departments, internships, library journals and databases, computer and lab resources, athletics, campus beautification, and more.

“Although Dag and Julie's gift represented the largest single Annual Fund commitment in Allegheny's history, it was the impact of the Skattum's promotion of new gifts—regardless of the size—that made the biggest difference in this year's campaign,” said McCandless. “Every gift counts.”

Of the 6,700 Allegheny College alumni who gave to the Annual Fund this year, more than 5,500 gave gifts of $100 or less.

For Andy Walker, class of 2000, giving to the College was an act of loyalty both to the College and to the Meadville community.

“As Director of Community Development for the Meadville Redevelopment Authority, my path crosses Allegheny's on a daily basis,” said Walker. “I see the good work of student interns from Allegheny's Center for Economic and Environmental Development, for example, and I realize that Allegheny is a huge asset to our community. Although my gifts have not been large, I've made a point of giving to the College every year since graduation because I know that every contribution makes a difference.”

In the fall of 2002, Allegheny College launched the public phase of a $105 million, seven-year comprehensive campaign, Tradition and Transformation: Making a Difference, to transform the College to meet the challenges of the 21st century. As of June 30, 2004, the end of this fiscal year, the campaign had raised $87,939,838.

Founded in 1815, Allegheny College is a nationally recognized, selective college of the liberal arts and sciences in northwestern Pennsylvania and is one of forty colleges featured in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives.