By Travis Coltrain
Phil’s fourth year continues this week, as donations steadily flow in. Phil Week, dedicated to promoting philanthropy on campus, gives the University of Iowa family a chance to give to the UI community.
More than 100 faculty and staff volunteers will host events and activities in their colleges or departments, Lynette Marshall, the CEO and president of the UI Foundation, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.
Pediatric dentistry Associate Professor Kecia Leary said a large emphasis of Phil Week is participation. The week involves getting more people on campus to support what they love most about the university.
Phil Week is about thanking the UI’s fantastic faculty and staff for all the ways they give to its students and patients every day, she said.
“The university’s dedicated contributors, including faculty and staff, fund a broad array of needs, from student scholarships, breakthrough research, and life-changing health care to innovative facilities, community outreach, and global education,” Marshall wrote in an email to the DI.
Leary said increasing awareness among faculty and staff about the ways private dollars affect the work the UI does encourages support.
Dina Blanc, the department administrator of the College of Engineering, said many of the different departments are putting in effort in order to make this the best Phil Week they can. Her college hosted numerous events this week, including its Phil trivia quiz.
One incentive they have set is the ability to become a part of history at the UI.
“People who donate to the campaign get to put items into a time capsule that will be hidden some place in the new annex that the College of Engineering is building,” Blanc said.
Marshall said there are incentives to departments’ participation, also. The department with the highest participation percentage by the end of Phil Week will win breakfast or lunch with the dean.
The College of Dentistry hosted events all week.
“Monday, we had a Dessert First Kickoff Party at which faculty and staff enjoyed a cupcake, learned about funds to support, and about other events for the week,” Leary said. “A few lucky winners got to spin the prize wheel.”
Winners of the prize wheels received gift cards to Casey’s and the Filling Station, the school’s cafeteria.
So far, the dentistry school has raised more than $6,000 toward its featured fund, the College of Dentistry Wellness Garden Fund, which will be used to create a landscaped seating area. This area will be located on the southeast side of the Dental Science Building. It will be “a tranquil patch of green for us all to enjoy,” Leary said.
Its wrap-up party will be the last Phil Week event today, lasting from noon to 1 p.m. in W220 Dental Building.
