Class of '76 Joint Fund Drive Nets All-Time High of $19,000

A joint fundraising drive by the Class of 1976 raised over $19,000 for the Harvard-Radcliffe Fund, breaking all previous Senior gift records and more than tripling the donation of the previous graduating class.

More than 40 per cent of the class participated in the four-year pledge that totals $78,523. The money, which goes into an account established last year so senior men and women could by-pass the Harvard and Radcliffe College Funds to give a joint gift to the College, goes directly to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences unrestricted budget.

Incongruent

Peter F. Clifton '49, executive director of the Fund, said yesterday, "The class felt that by working together they would be able to contact more students and have more fun while working on the drive."

There was a small boycott of the fund by the Class of 1975, Clifton added, "because many felt that giving separately to the fund was incongruent with the four years they had spent at College."

Fund figures show that about three-quarters of the money raised came from men and one-quarter from women. According to Peter C. Brooks '74, assistant director of the Fund, the joint drive did not significantly change the share of the total given by men or women.

Scholarship Money

More than half the Fund's collection is earmarked for scholarship money for undergraduates. The Fund also pays for two-thirds of the House and varsity athletic programs and finances the House tutorial system.

The giving by the Class of '76 comes in a year when the Harvard College Fund surpassed its original goal to raise an all-time high of $5,451,000.

Clifton said that the results prove that "the younger alumni are ready to give to the College."

Clifton said that alumni groups set up across the U.S., called the "Council of the '70s," specifically work to find out the interests of the younger alumni and encourage fundraising.

No Shakedown

One of the more than 75 seniors who worked on the fundraising drive, Richard W. Edelman '76, said yesterday that "there was no shakedown. Just an effort by all the fundraisers to get their friends interested."

Another fundraiser, who asked not to be identified, said yesterday, "I guess our class is more conservative than those that came right before us. We are very straight and that's probably why we are giving to the Fund." HARVARD COLLEGE FUND CLASS  AMOUNT  NUMBER OF PLEDGES 1961  $2,702  343 1962  $3,150  579 1963  $4,400  564 1964  $5,719  659 1965  $6,835  736 1966  $6,901  801 1967  $9,348  849 1968  $15,000  790 1969  $11,500  594 1970  $7,500  381 1971  $18,745  501 1972  $16,777  466 1973  $13,000  418 1974  $13,000  451 1975  $6,100  275 1976  $19,630  554