- With Your Support

in this section:
- Bicentennial Campaign reaches coast to coast

- How you can participate in the Bicentennial Campaign

- Hard work, high standards

- Recent graduates have golden opportunity

- Trustees’ academy

Other Departments:
- The President's Perspective
- From the In Box
- Across the College Green
- Through the Gate
- From Your Alumni Association
- In Green and White
- On the Wall
- Bobcat Tracks
- The Last Word
- In Memoriam 

Recent graduates have golden opportunity

By Sally Jeffery

Erik Roush left Ohio University two years ago, but he hasn’t let the place leave his heart.

There is a framed picture of the College Green hanging in his Columbus apartment. He carries an Ohio University money clip in his pocket. And in the office where he works as an aide for state Rep. Derrick Seaver, an Attack Cat occupies a prominent spot on his desk.

All are daily reminders of a wonderful time of his life.

“The University gave me life experiences and learning experiences. I made a lot of great friends,” says Roush, who in 1999 received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the Honors Tutorial College and a master’s in public administration.

While on campus, Roush immersed himself in activities, serving on Student Senate and as a student member of the Board of Trustees.

“I learned a lot about what it takes to run a multi-million dollar institution,” he says. “The experience was invaluable.”
It was a sense of indebtedness for that exposure that compelled Roush to volunteer as chair of a new giving society specifically for recent graduates. The GOLD Club — short for Graduates of the Last Decade — was created specifically with alumni like Roush in mind, says Larry Lafferty, who oversees annual giving programs and special campaigns.

“Many people who have just graduated are starting a career or paying off student loans,” Lafferty says. “The GOLD Club recognizes lower levels of giving and enables alumni to stay linked with the University.”

Graduates of the past one to five years who make a gift of $250 or more annually, or graduates of the past six to 10 years who give $500 or more, become members of the GOLD Club.

They also are members of the Trustees’ Academy, Ohio University’s most prestigious giving society, during the year of their gift.

“We are forming long-term relationships,” Lafferty says. “This is a way alumni who feel strongly about the University can give something back and make a difference.”

Sally Jeffery is a freelance writer living in Athens.