If you’re a Drexel Dragon who loves playing games and solving puzzles, get ready for May 1!
This year’s May Day is also the Day of Giving, a single day where the Drexel University community comes together to make a collective impact on the University by supporting the areas they love: schools, colleges, Greek life, sports and other programs on campus.
The Drexel community will have 24 hours to “Change the Game” by making a gift online or at one of 24 events happening on campus throughout the day. Philanthropy changes the game at Drexel, and this year is about demonstrating the impact that can be made in a single day when everyone takes part. Game Changers, or donors on May 1, will have the opportunity to win “bonus” funds for the area(s) they support by acing online games and participating in person on campus.
Faculty, professional staff and students can gather at the Live Experience event held in the Recreation Center on Drexel’s University City Campus from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dragons can participate in activities like Lego-building races and other challenges for the opportunity to win bonus money for their favorite area of Drexel.
This annual event has occurred at Drexel since 2016. In both 2016 and 2017, Drexel's wrestling team contributed the most donors, having cleared its goal of 400 donations last year.
“For each of the past two years, I have been amazed by the way the Drexel community rallies in support of our students and programs,” said Senior Vice President of Institutional Advancement David Unruh. “The fact that Wrestling has had the most donors for two years running demonstrates that it just takes a game plan and passion to win challenge funds. I’m excited to see what our students, faculty, staff and alumni accomplish on May 1.”
In the days approaching May 1, the University has recruited a group of nearly 2,000 contenders — members of the Drexel community to who are getting ready for the big day. As they prepare, their quick wit and trivia skill is being tested in a series of Drexel-themed quizzes similar to Celebrity Jeopardy. Contenders with a perfect score will receive a special code to increase the impact of their gift on May 1. To become a contender, visit drexel.edu/24 prior to May 1.
After making their gift, Dragons will have multiple opportunities to play additional games and win challenge funds for the area of support they choose. This will come in handy in friendly competition between organizations for challenge funds (like, for example, athletics teams competing with Greek Life).
You can follow along with the day’s many, many events and happenings by following Drexel Alumni on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Keep an eye out for updates, opportunities and social challenges by following the #Drexel24 hashtag (and be sure to use it yourself when posting about the Day of Giving).
This year, the goal is for 1,891 Game Changers (the number representing the University’s founding year) to carry on founder Anthony J. Drexel’s tradition of giving that begin with his $3 million donation to establish what was then known as the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry.
Don’t be like Marlon Brando’s character in the 1954 movie “On the Waterfront” who famously said, “I coulda been a contender.” You have from now until May 1 to become one.