The gift of Golden Jubilarians Maryknoll College 1970 triggers an avalanche of alumni support for MC’s KNOLLER online campus as the class celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2020.
Shifting to online learning is proving to be a challenge for students and teachers who do not have access to their own gadgets for this school year. With the demands that accompany learning from home, it is imperative that students and faculty have their own devices that would allow them to focus on attending their classes and efficiently accomplishing their work.
In recognition of this challenge, Maryknoll College Class 1970, this year’s Golden Jubilarians, decided to gift the school with a generous amount of P1.3 million pesos to purchase 50 HP laptops for college students in need. This was decided after Dr. Jasmin Nario-Galace, VP for Academic Affairs, together with Jasmin Velasco, Institutional E-Learning Officer, gave the class’ core group an overview about the KNOLLER online campus and the gaps that need to be filled.
College 1970’s gift sparked a big interest among other alumni classes who have since given financial contributions to Miriam. Their donations will mostly go to the funding of a “computer library” – or a pool of laptops and tablets – that will be loaned out to students and faculty who need it most. Some classes have chosen to provide a monthly allowance to subsidize selected students’ internet connectivity, while others donated for scholarships. These gifts will allow MC’s deserving students and faculty to completely focus on their work and not worry about unreliable internet or shared devices in the household.
What was the inspiration behind College 1970’s generous gift? As shared by class representative Lot Ortiz-Luis, “For our Golden Jubilee Legacy Gift our first priority was really to help (through the setting up of a start-up computer library) MC HEU students, especially those in school through financial aid who cannot afford to buy their own computer/laptop. It's by the grace of God and generosity of our classmates that what we thought would be just a few start-up units became 50 units!”
On August 14, MC President Ambassador Laura Q. Del Rosario will formally thank the Golden Jubilarian Class for their gift. Because of the pandemic, the turnover ceremony will be done online. “Many of the members of College Class 70 have not been back on campus for many years. It was a big disappointment not to have been able to do it for our Golden Jubilee and to celebrate together physically. So we are trying to take advantage of the pockets of joy where and when these are available to make up for what we cannot have at this point in time,” says Lot, who has been closely coordinating with the Alumni Engagement Office on their gift.
As expressed by AEO Director Aurorita Mendoza to the class, “The Computer Library, which your gift is establishing, will benefit many members of the MC community on the inaugural year of the KNOLLER and beyond. We are extremely delighted that the College Golden Jubilarians are making this breakthrough possible.”
From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you, Maryknoll College Class of 1970!