Campus News

April 26, 2010

Campaign Emory

Students raising $10K for Oxford College

The sophomore class of 2010 at Oxford College is making the largest class gift in the college’s history this year. The $10,000 gift will be used to name a study room in Oxford’s planned Library and Academic Commons and to plant a tree on campus.

“Following in the tradition of those who have gone before us, we hope to leave behind something for the future generations to remember us by,” members of the gift committee wrote in a recent letter to the sophomore class. “This is our chance to leave our mark on Oxford’s campus.”

The class tree, a Cherokee Princess dogwood, was planted in March  near the student center. The study room will be named to honor Gretchen Schulz, associate professor of English at Oxford, who is retiring from teaching in May 2010 after more than three decades of service to Oxford and Emory.

Schulz began her career at Oxford in 1979, and during the next 30 years she taught writing, poetry and British and American literature. At Oxford, she is known for her dedication, enthusiasm, and creativity in teaching and for her genuine interest in her students. For her commitment to her students and the college, she has been honored as a Georgia Governor’s Teaching fellow and has received Oxford’s Gregory/Rackley Development Award.

Schulz was involved in the larger Emory community as well, representing Oxford on University committees including the Ethics Center Advisory Board, the University Advisory Council on Teaching, and the University Research Committee. She also was an integral part of the Center for Women at Emory, serving on its advisory board since 1996. In 2010 she received the center’s Unsung Heroine Award.

By naming a study room in Schulz’s honor, the sophomore class is contributing to the fundraising effort for Oxford’s new Library and Academic Commons, a 35,000-square-foot facility designed to be a center of academic excellence, research and learning.

The University is providing half of the $17.5 million needed for the project, leaving Oxford to raise $8.75 million. As of April, Oxford had generated nearly $2.3 million for the project from students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends of the college.

The new facility will house the new Center for Academic Excellence, which supports and enriches the work of Oxford faculty, and the Pierce Institute for Leadership and Community Engagement, which helps Oxford students succeed in leadership and service roles, both on campus and in the surrounding community. These two programs are central to the library’s mission.

The sophomore class gift is part of Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fundraising endeavor that combines private support and the University’s people, places and programs to make a powerful contribution to the world. Investments through Campaign Emory fuel efforts to address fundamental challenges: transforming health and healing, gaining ground in science and technology, resolving conflict, harnessing the power of the arts, and educating the heart and mind.

For more information, contact Clark Lemons (770.784.8370).

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Related Information

  • Honoring Schulz
    A retirement party for Gretchen Schulz is set for Tuesday, April 27 from 4-6:30 p.m. in Phi Gamma Hall at Oxford College.