Daily Deacon

1834 Student Giving Campaign Event

The Wake Forest 1834 Student Giving Campaign hosted a social event on Wednesday for the 2016 senior class, with the aim to encourage students to give back to Wake Forest in a philanthropic way. The even took place at Ziggy’s bar which is located on 8th street in downtown Winston Salem. The 1834 group said that the goal of the event was to raise awareness among students of the importance of donating to the school, and simultaneously have a fun event for the seniors as their time at Wake Forest University dwindles. It cost each person 10$ to get into the venue. The money was collected through a new crowd funding app called Tilt. Every person that donated 10$ to the tilt got two free drinks at the bar. According to Janie Warnock, a member of the 1834 student giving committee, the 10$ contribution also got people entrance to all other 1834 events that are coming later this semester, and anyone can contribute at anytime. Warnock said that the other 1834 events will be Wake Forest tunnel tours, bell tower tours, basketball tailgate, and a “thank a donor day”. She said that the Sorority or Fraternity with the highest attendance at all 1834 events will win a bar tab at Ziggy’s. Although after speaking to some of the attendees there seemed to be some confusion among them about what exactly their 10$ bought them. All the money that the 1834 student giving group raises goes directly into the Wake Forest Fund. Wednesday’s event raised 920.16$. 1834’s goal is to raise 2,000$ by the end of the semester. However, their long term goal is much deeper. Warnock said they want to “Encourage students to understand the University’s philanthropic needs and to donate more in the future.”

The event started at 9:30 on Wednesday and went until around midnight. The venue had a large dance floor, and there was loud music being played by one of the students known as “DJ Rob V”. There was lots of dancing and socializing. Harrison Perkins, a Waker Forest senior who attended the event, said, “it was a great way to hang out with all the people from different parts of my life all in one place. People get so caught up in greek life or social cliques, and I felt like this event really broke those walls.” Meredith Anderson, another senior at the event shared a similar opinion, she said, “The 1834 event at Ziggy’s opened my eyes to the true solidarity which lies between each and every one of the students in the class of 2016. Best night of the year.”

There seemed to be a mixed consensus about if the people there recognized 1834’s purpose for hosting the event or if they saw it as just another social space to hang out with friends. Many people learned about 1834 after a Facebook event page was sent out inviting them to the event. Others heard about it through word of mouth. When asked if he knew what the 1834 Student Giving group does, Greg O’Connor responded “Well, I had no idea about them until the Wednesday’s event, but now I get it”. Alternatively, when Hayden Arnot was asked the same question he said, “Frankly, I have no idea what 1834 is, and I didn’t even realize that they hosted the event. I just heard about it from my friend.”