On March 12, students all across the UW-Madison campus were being lured by the promise of free coffee.
Posters, handmade signs, and chalked sidewalks led to tables at five campus locations where students could fill out thank-you cards to alumni and get a free cup of coffee.
While one would think that free coffee was the draw, it quickly became clear to the student volunteers staffing the tables that their fellow classmates were quite serious about thanking the people who are helping to keep the UW strong.
Some messages were short: “Thank you for your generosity,” or “You are my hero.”
But many students took the time to write in detail about how alumni support has benefited them. A number even decorated the thank-you cards with giant W’s or portraits of Bucky Badger.
Thank a Badger was part of the Student Campaign, which will soon be raising funds for the 2015 senior class gift — a donation to the Wisconsin Idea Scholarship. In order to express the idea that every gift matters, the Student Campaign organizers decided that the recipients of the thank-you cards wouldn’t be major donors, but rather, Badger alumni who have given up to $100 during the past year.
At the end of the day, more than 3,200 students stopped to thank a Badger.
