By Desirae Contreras |Staff Writer|
CSUSB’s first Coyote Karma fundraising event, “What you give is what you get,” raised $860 towards scholarships.
Coyote Karma raised $430 in student donations and along with the Karnig Scholarship Challenge Match, that amount was doubled to a $860 estimate.
The money that was raised will go towards student scholarships.
The event was held by the public relations practicum course, Comm 243D, in cooperation with Development and Annual Giving, Student Leadership and Development and Associated Students Inc.
The Coyote Karma event is the first to initiate the student-giving campaign which motivates students to invest into their education institution by contributing through their own charitable donations.
Due to the reductions in state funding, CSUSB now increasingly depends on private donors and alumnus for support.
According to Terri Carlos, director of development for annual giving and constituent management, CSUSB will undergo a $8 million cut if the tax initiative on the November ballot proposed by Gov. Brown does not pass.
“It’s more important now, more so than ever for us to go out and seek out private donations to help fund our scholarships and the various gift accounts our departments have to keep things going at the same level we have now,” said Carlos.
The event showcased the talents of on-campus organizations as well as off-campus vendors. The Black Student Union, Underground Music Society President Emmanuel Rodriguez and Annual Fund program came out to support.
Greek organizations Zeta Tau Alpha, Sigma Chi, Alpha Deta Pi and our first annual winners of the Coyote Karma Tournament, Sigma Phi Epsilon attended the event.
Diverse City Residents clothing line, Paul Mitchell cosmologist Gianna Menchaca, Calbi catering and Crepes Bonarparte food trucks donated their cuisine and efforts to the fundraising event.
Alongside, live music from Weezy & Co., BeatSexyBeat and DJ Wall-E accompanied the event.
Amongst the talents and entertainment provided by Coyote Karma staff, opportunity drawings were raffled off to those in attendance. Everything from Zip-line tickets, Starbucks, MAC makeup and tickets to the Improv were offered in the opportunity drawing.
As a result, the Comm 243D public relations practicum course delivered a fun, educational and fundraising event.
“They’ve [students] faced a lot of challenges with tuition increases and for them to still be open to giving back and learning about the importance of all of us coming together showcases to me that we have great students on this campus,” said Carlos.
Photos by Desirae Contreras