At their 50th reunion, the Class of 1959 gave UNCG a big gift — a $723,198 gift, to be exact.

The gift was presented April 18 by Betty Rowe Penny and Joanne Kiser Caldwell. Gifts honoring a class’s 50th anniversary have been a tradition since 1915.

Joanne praised her classmates for their generosity during difficult economic times. “We upped our goal in the midst of the downturn,” she said. “We set our original goal at $500,000 and raised it to $700,000 in November.”

Class members were encouraged to give to whatever program, fund, scholarship or other designation has special meaning to them. Gifts were made by 191 alumnae — 42 percent of the class — to all areas of campus, including the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Aycock Auditorium, Spartan Athletics, Jackson Library and each of the schools.

The class gift was part of the university’s Students First Campaign, which raised more than $115 million.

Class of 1960 — get ready for an exciting year.

The Class of 1960 50th Reunion planning committee has been hard at work drawing up plans for activities beginning with FallFest (Sept. 21-26) and ending with the exciting and special Reunion weekend (April 16-17, 2010). Along the way, alumni will meet at class gatherings in various North Carolina cities.

If you have any items, photos, programs, etc. that can be included in the memorabilia display at Reunion, please email Marie Cardwell Harrill, mjtoys@aol.com. Also, please email Melissa Potter, mlpotte2@uncg.edu, in the Alumni Relations Office about any change to your personal alumni record, such as mailing address, so you can continue receiving Reunion information.