Pitt Day of Giving

February 25, 2020 - 1:00am to 11:00pm

Pitt Day of Giving Update and Thanks

On February 25th, 2020,  the University of Pittsburgh held its annual Pitt Day of Giving.  As part of this, the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences selected five funds to highlight during that fund drive. We requested that the German Legacy Fund in Memory of Dr. Elizabeth Wylie-Ernst, which honors our dear colleague and supports study abroad, be one of those funds and were successful in our request.  The Dean issued a $2,000 challenge grant, telling us that if 50 supporters give to their cause, she would provide an additional $2,000 to that cause.

Thanks to you and the community supporting the German Department, we were successful beyond what we could have imagined!  We were the first of all departments to meet the goal of 50 donors and ended up with 105 donors overall, more than doubling the amount required for the Dean’s challenge. We raised over $5,300 for the fund and unlocked the Dean’s challenge, so that the fund will increase by over $7,300!  The funds from Pitt Day of Giving will significantly increase the amount that we can award to our students each year—it enables more students to have the life-changing experience of study abroad.

None of this would have been possible without strong support from the community surrounding Pitt German. Special thanks go to Dean Blee for the challenge grant, to Katy Wallander in the Development office who helped us organize this campaign, to Dr. Benjamin Brand who championed the campaign on our departmental social media accounts, and to the various members of the Pitt German community who rallied to make this possible: current students, alumni, current faculty, emeritus faculty, family and friends of Beth Wylie-Ernst, and many friends of the German Department. The flood of donations speaks to the powerful influence that Beth had on those who were fortunate enough to know her, as well as to the generosity and support that so many of you have worked to keep German at Pitt strong.