BY John Dunn
The Roll Call is 60.
Sixty is the diamond anniversary — spectacular and enduring. The brainchild of the parents of the Baby Boomer generation, it has grown to meet their expectations.
When the Georgia Tech Alumni Association launched its first Roll Call drive in 1947, the transistor, which has been called the most important invention of the 20th century, was created. That year Jonas Salk developed a vaccine against the devastating disease polio and Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, becoming the first African-American to play major league baseball.
The Roll Call drive, which began on July 1, had a very modest start. Only 1,356 alumni contributed — 7.6 percent of known alumni — almost $22,550. In 1947, $22,550 had the purchasing power of $197,000 today.
It was a small yet significant start. It represented a vital source of revenue for the Institute and its significance was magnified because most Roll Call donations were undesignated funds. That meant the president could use the money where the need was greatest.
By the 1960s, Roll Call's small start had become significant. Participation in the annual drive had become a mantra among many alumni and for a dozen years, the annual Roll Call drive got the support of more than 40 percent its graduates.
The Georgia Tech Athletic Association lent its support to the Roll Call effort, awarding points for consecutive years of giving that donors could leverage to get better seats for athletic events. During that time, the Roll Call program received an award for the "best sustained alumni performance" among all public-supported colleges and universities, including a whopping 54 percent participation.
Roll Call continues to be a fundraising engine for academics. It continues to be Georgia Tech's most predictable source of unrestricted funds.
William J. Todd, president of the Georgia Cancer Coalition, is also a member of the Alumni Association's executive committee, serving a second term as vice chairman of Roll Call.
"Because of my volunteer work at Georgia Tech, including the Alumni Association, I have become aware of how critical undesignated funds are for the Institute," Todd said.
"There are many opportunities that come along in a year where the president and the administration need some flexibility to respond to those opportunities, whether they be enhancements in student life or scholarships or faculty recruitment and retention," he said. "When all of the private money is designated for a specific purpose, as important as those purposes are, it is constricting not to have the ability to match funds up with opportunities that arise."
The goal of the 60th Roll Call campaign is to raise $8.16 million from more than 31,000 donors, said Jim Shea, Alumni Association vice president for Fundraising and Business Development.
When the current Roll Call is complete, the annual drive will have raised more than $150 million since its start, Shea said.
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