Senior Courtney Lee helps lead Class of 2012
campaign
By Elizabeth Byrum ’13
Courtney Lee ’12 in The Pit during a Senior Campaign
awareness event
Dan Sears
For every Carolina student, the opportunities a UNC
education offers are virtually limitless. Whether immersing
oneself in other cultures abroad, securing an important
summer internship or finding a cause to be passionate about,
Tar Heels thrive because of diverse experiences.
But such academic, athletic and extracurricular activities
would not be as rich and diverse without the private giving
of alumni and students alike.
Courtney Lee ’12 knows this all too well, and credits private
giving for helping make possible some of the wonderful
experiences she’s had over the past four years. As an intern
with the Carolina Annual Fund, Lee has seen the significant
impact private funding has made in her life as a student as
well as the lives of others.
“It's been really interesting as a student to see the
importance of private giving, and that's something a lot of
students don't realize or understand until after they've
left,” Lee said. “It’s allowed me to better appreciate the
opportunities that UNC is giving me and to encourage students
to develop that habit of giving while they are here.”
For Lee, a business administration and Spanish major from
Winston-Salem, N.C., working with the Annual Fund has shown
her how private funding ultimately helps to fill the gaps
that state funding, endowment income and tuition do not
cover. From student, faculty and program support to enhancing
the campus environment and keeping the facilities functioning
smoothly, private giving touches every facet of campus life.
She’s also realistic. “We understand that a lot of students
are putting themselves through school, or don't generally
have expendable income to make large gifts and we don't
expect that,” Lee said. “But those $5, $10 and $20 gifts go a
long way, not only for financial reasons, but also because it
puts you in that habit of giving.”
As a first-year student, Lee began working with the Annual
Fund’s phonathon and has been involved in numerous
capacities, from sending mailings to organizing the
Chancellor's Clubs membership lists. She is a member of
Heelraisers, a student organization committed to private
giving, and this year, she served as Senior Campaign Marshal
and focused specifically on encouraging the Class of 2012 to
make a gift. Through activities such as senior night at the
Ackland Art Museum, Tag Day or Tuition Free Day, Lee works to
integrate the Senior Campaign initiatives with other
senior-related organizations to help inform students about
what it really takes to run a University and encourage them
to be involved.
“Whether it’s one dollar or $500, we are tremendously
appreciative.”
» Courtney Lee
“The Senior Campaign tries to be visible at all of those
because we are pulling in seniors, but we also work with the
General Alumni Association for commencement information day,
100 Days to Graduation and the Bell Tower climb, which are
the three biggest events that pull in seniors,” Lee said.
“The goal of these events is to get senior gifts but, more
importantly, to pull the senior class together.”
A key message Lee and the Senior Campaign are working to
convey about private giving is that gifts of any amount can
be made to any department, organization or facility on
campus. The effort aims to demonstrate the flexibility
available in giving and to encourage all students, seniors in
particular, to make a gift to an area that has impacted their
Carolina careers.
“The Senior Class Gift is not a bench, a fountain, a tree or
anything like that. It's a gift you make to your department,
your school or your student group to help them thrive as they
helped you,” she said. “There are more than 7,000 areas to
support.”
For Lee specifically, the impact private giving can have
became crystal clear after she completed an internship with
the Marwood Group in New York City. There, UNC alumni
introduced students to the health-care business and
introduced them to all facets of running a company—an
experience funded solely by private donors. Lee reaches out
to her peers to help them find ways to give back before they
graduate, but recognizes that students and alumni differ
widely when it comes to philanthropy.
“We recognize you are students, that your financial situation
is unique and we respect that,” she said. “We don't ever want
students to commit something they are not comfortable with.
What we do aim for is to make students aware of the role
private giving plays in their college life every day and to
be involved and participate. Whether it’s one dollar or $500,
we are tremendously appreciative.”
Lee graduates on May 13 and will begin the next chapter of
her life. But while she has a class trip to San Francisco
with her honors seminar, a summer of backpacking in Europe
with her close friends and a position with Bank of America in
Charlotte, N.C., to look forward to, her extensive work with
the Annual Fund has made an indelible mark on her four years
at Carolina and has tied her to the university she loves for
years to come.
“The Annual Fund has been a huge part of my time here at
Carolina, not just because it's been a job that has given me
some spending money on the weekends, but because it has given
me access to some incredible alums who love this place and
love to give back.”