Penn State Seniors to Fund Endowment for Counseling and Psychological Services with 2020 Class Gift

Penn State’s graduating Class of 2020 will fund an endowment for the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), as chosen by seniors who voted on four options throughout last week and announced on Tuesday.

“You will play a lasting role in helping students of future generations manage the whole range of personal and mental health challenges that face them and in selecting this gift you have shown a great level of passion and compassion, creativity and pride,” Vice President for Development and Alumni Relations Rich Bundy said.

This year’s Class Gift is exactly what it sounds like — a donation to CAPS that will help students deal with mental health issues. If the minimum is not reached, money raised will support the Mental Health Emergency Fund.

This gift keeps up with the ongoing tradition of providing funding for mental and emotional health, as the 2016 class gift was also an endowment to CAPS.

“The Class Gift is older than the Blue Band. The Class Gift is almost as old as the football team, and the Class Gift is certainly older than all of you,” Bundy said when reflecting on how longstanding the class gift legacy is.

The CAPS endowment beat out the other finalists that seniors could’ve voted for: the “Complete Penn State” scholarship, the “Choose Your Legacy” project, or a contribution to the construction of the proposed University Art Museum in the Arboretum.

“Since 1861, the senior class gift has been one of the longest-running traditions at Penn State,” Class Gift Director Wil Dunn said. “Walking around campus you can see legacies of previous classes everywhere.”