The Commencement Class Giving campaign at FASS took off to a heartening start with the recruitment of 34 class champions across the departments at the beginning of this year. The annual giving campaign is an initiative by NUS Development Office (DVO) that runs across the campus in a spirit of friendly competition to inspire commencing students to support bursaries or student programmes for their juniors. It is a collaborative effort with the External Relations and Student Life Division (ERSL) at the faculty.
Despite the busy schedule of their final semester at NUS, the class champions went all out to encourage their graduating classmates to make their gifts in support of the FASS Student Advancement Bursary Fund. In addition to setting up booths at the AS1 walkway and gown collection to solicit gifts, the class champions also reached out to their friends through various social media platforms and their departments’ social gatherings to raise funds. Though some of them found it challenging to fund-raise initially, many of the class champions felt the experience was meaningful and enjoyed the friendship they forged through the process. According to David Hoe, Economics Class champion 2015, “Though it was a short few months of fundraising, I feel I have grown and have been inspired through serving alongside my fellow passionate comrades. More than that, those who gave also encouraged me to go the extra mile”.
The hard work of our class champions paid off handsomely when the competition results were announced at the end of August. A total of 25.8% of the commencing undergraduate cohort made gifts of at least $10 each, totaling S$ 8,617 for the bursary fund. Their achievement led to FASS being awarded second place for the Best Participation Award (among large faculties with over 1,000 graduating students). Their enthusiasm and committed effort also won FASS the inaugural Volunteer Excellence Award as the faculty with the most number of active student champions.
We would like to thank the following class champions for their commendable efforts:
- Kok Wang Lin (Chinese Studies)
- Tong Wenxu (Chinese Studies)
- Loh Sze Ming (Communications and New Media)
- Louis Puah (Communications and New Media)
- Grace Leong (Communications and New Media)
- Lee Kai Shun (Communications and New Media)
- David Hoe (Economics)
- Roshan Kumar Belani (Economics)
- Zachary Low (English Literature)
- Timothy Joshua Ong (English Language)
- Gladys Sim (English Language)
- Wendy Ang (Environmental Studies)
- Loo Wen Bin (Geography)
- Kayley Ng (Geography)
- Reuben Lim (European Studies)
- Nathalie Ng (History)
- Li Ling (History)
- Philine Yong (Japanese Studies)
- Nur’izzah Mohamad Afandi (Malay Studies)
- Siti Nursamihah Jeffrey (Philosophy)
- Daryl Ooi (Philosophy)
- Darryl Lee (Political Science)
- Varun Khemaney (Political Science)
- Boris Wong (Global Studies)
- Ace Ong (Psychology)
- Ho Si Min (Psychology)
- Elizabeth Chew (Psychology)
- Ng Yi Ying (Social Work)
- Muhammad Ilham Firdaus Omar Ali (Social Work)
- Faris B. Ridzuan (Sociology)
- Michelle Teo (Sociology)
- Jayasutha Samuthiran (Political Science and South Asian Studies)
- Diviyapriya Naidu d/o Vijayan (South Asian Studies)
- Cindy Lin (Southeast Asian Studies)
Upon their commencement, the class champions now assume the role of class ambassadors. We take delight in knowing that FASS will remain connected to this wonderful group of selfless students, and we hope to be able to work with them on meaningful causes in the future.
