York College is celebrating the generosity of many friends and alumni after a successful Giving Tuesday campaign yielded $53,767 in gifts.

These donations supported a variety of projects, the primary one being the Freeman Bleacher Challenge. Once this project is fully funded, it will allow for safer, more comfortable bleachers to be installed in the Freeman Center Gymnasium--one of the highest use facilities on campus. The total cost for all components of the project is $150,000. An anonymous alumni couple is offering a matching gift up to $55,000 to encourage other alumni to give. The resulting matched total of $110,000 will mean that bleachers could be installed in time for the fall 2019 semester.


During the Giving Tuesday push, donors provided $6,760 for the Freeman Bleacher Challenge, bringing the total of qualifying gifts and pledges to $29,015 for the project. Donors that have given $55 or more for this project will have their name (or the name of someone they are honoring) added to the Panther Honor Wall, which will be made out of wood from the current bleachers.

York College Development Officer Emily Lutz was pleased with the response for Giving Tuesday. “Everything from student scholarships, to water bottle filling stations, to the bleacher project was impacted by this international day of giving,” she said.

Missed Giving Tuesday? No problem, says Lutz. “We will continue to accept gifts for the Freeman Bleacher Challenge for the next few months, so there is still time to participate with a gift.”