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Young Alumni Join Forces to Fund Internship Award
Eric J. Klopfer ’06 learned that he had been named the first recipient of the Young Alumni Internship Fund right around the time that the classes 1999, 2000, and 2001 were returning to campus for their fifth reunion and the graduating class of 2005 was preparing to leave it.
Their convergence on campus for Commencement/Reunion Weekend was the conclusion to a year of working toward the same goal: for the first time in recent Oberlin Alumni Fund history, young alumni and the senior class joined forces in fundraising, pulling their collective giving power to fund a joint project.
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| Dr. Christiana Nwofor ’00 helped lead the fundraising effort to create the Young Alumni Internship Fund. |
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The Young Alumni Internship Fund was created by The Oberlin Alumni Fund last fall as a fundraising project for the fifth reunion classes of 1999-2000-2001. Soon thereafter, the graduating seniors of 2005 voted overwhelmingly to join the effort and make the fund the designation for their Senior Class Gift.
“The reunion gift committee liked the idea of an internship from the start,” recalls Assistant Director of The Oberlin Alumni Fund Aaron Mucciolo ’02, who worked with all four classes to help them achieve fundraising success in excess of $83,000 – $18,873 of which was designated to the Young Alumni Internship Fund. “It’s a practical way to give a liberal arts student a taste of what lies ahead in the professional world.”
Class of 2005 Class President Morgan Shelton concurs: “Some students are deterred from applying for low-pay or no-pay internships regardless of how spectacular the opportunity is because of financial situations. The Young Alumni Internship Fund will give students the opportunity to work toward their goals with less concern over monetary issues.”
The fund, which will exist as a current-use fund until 2010, provides grant stipends for students pursuing just these kinds of opportunities.
Klopfer is the first recipient. A junior English and cinema studies major from Thomasville, PA, Klopfer is currently holding a summer internship with the publishing branch of Marvel Enterprises, Inc., Manhattan-based Marvel Comics.
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| Morgan Shelton ’05 wore two hats as president of the senior class and chair of the senior gift committee. Fourty-two percent of the senior class made a gift during the year, the second highest total in over seven years. |
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Klopfer chose Marvel Comics because of the ways it uses entertainment as a platform from which to exercise social and fiscal responsibility. “A well-defined moral fabric underlies most Marvel projects,” Klopfer asserts. “They consistently deploy colorful characters to socially-conscious ends.”
The internship promises to be an excellent opportunity for Klopfer to learn the ropes of the comic industry from the ground up. Aside from filing paperwork, Marvel’s interns work with senior editors in formatting publications, developing and editing plots, and furthering the acquisition of new talent. By the end of the summer, Klopfer may have the opportunity to serve as an assistant editor on one or two titles of his choosing – a significant professional step for this former managing editor of The Oberlin Review.
Meanwhile, the classes of 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2005 can feel good about the opportunity that they have created through their fundraising success. “I enjoy doing this,” explains reunion gift committee member Tiffanie Luckett ’99, “because it gives me a chance to give back. Financial support for Oberlin seems like a natural way to offer a small ‘thank you.’ ”
Thank you is a phrase that will likely be on the minds of Klopfer and future interns that will have the opportunity to explore potential career paths because of the generosity of Oberlin’s young alumni.
If you would like to make a gift to The Young Alumni Internship Fund, simply indicate this designation when you Make a Gift.
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