By Parker Leipzig

Each year, the University of Maryland hosts Giving Day: a 24-hour fundraising event during which many departments on campus incentivize students and alumni to support the future of these programs.

This year’s donations broke the record for the highest total ever raised at over $2.7 million compared to the $1.6 million raised last year. 

Brian Logue, the executive director of annual giving, said he was surprised by the generosity.

“I think people realize you know there’s students that need help,” Logue said. “I think, you know, for the folks who weren’t financially hurt [by the pandemic], they were being much more generous around this time.”

However, some do not agree with the way Giving Day is carried out and what the university chooses not to support.

Amelia Avis, a 2020 master’s graduate, is disappointed that UMD overlooks student-run organizations but prioritizes funding for areas that are run by employees and are already well-funded.

“And what I’ve seen in my time at the University of Maryland, and what we see every year, is that there’s a loss of autonomy for student groups,” Avis said.

Avis was involved with the student-run organization the Maryland Food Co-op, a worker-owned sandwich shop that was a part of the UMD community since 1975.

The Co-op unfortunately had to shut its doors in 2019 “because of its rising debt, unpaid utility fees and operational costs,” according to The Diamondback.

Avis and many others who were passionate about the Co-op staged a boycott and refused to donate towards the university. They did this to exemplify their anger towards the administration for collecting money from students and alumni but not supporting an organization like the Co-op. 

“So the university should really be investing in the things that make the University of Maryland and college special, which is peer networks and student groups,” Avis said.

Ayesha Amsa, a senior public policy major at the university, is the treasurer of Cooperative Housing at the University of Maryland (CHUM) that “works to provide affordable housing for students and workers in College Park,” Amsa said.

Amsa does not think CHUM, or other organizations like it, will ever be a part of Giving Day, considering the university’s alliances with other off-campus housing in the area. She does not think going to the university for help, or being beholden to the university, is the answer since her organization prides itself on being student-run.

Amsa and Avis both think the university has been running as a business and functions on making profit and does not take enough student input.

“So that creates an environment where money making is incentivized above student autonomy and creativity and the freedom to make your own venture on campus,” Avis said.

Amsa said until the university stops looking at students “as another line on their profit margins” and gives students more than just “performative” powers, the administration will not listen.

The spirit that Giving Day brings towards the university is special, as Logue said.

“You hear a lot of these sort of reasons why people donate and it’s great to hear and everyone’s just so excited about being part of the university and being a Terp,” Logue said.

But Amsa said students must fight if they want to be heard and garner support for organizations not included in Giving Day.

“Doing things that disrupt the university’s business model is probably the only way you can really get a voice on campus,” Amsa said.

Featured photo: screenshot of main Giving Day website.