Kathryn O’Connor
News Editor
Wear Black, Give Back, UNO’s giving day, now holds a record for the single largest number of donations given to the school in a 24-hour period, continuing a streak set by the previous two annual events.
The event began at noon on Oct. 12 and concluded at noon on Oct. 13. Individuals and organizations donated 3,794 gifts, totaling $553,702, to support students across UNO. The philanthropic event was centered at givingday.unomaha.edu, where complete results can be found.
“As our Maverick fans near and far demonstrated, the support of a passionate group gets us to victory,” UNO Chancellor Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA, said. “Because so many individuals and organizations pitched in, we were able to raise important funds for scholarships, colleges, programs, student group activities, and so much more. This giving event was another clear display of how Mavericks help Mavericks.”
Wear Black, Give Back used social media and other online communication to encourage philanthropic support for all university programs. Participants shared why they were giving and why UNO matters to them using #WearBlackGiveBack.
During last year’s event in 2021, more than $362,000 was given to support all areas of UNO.
Now in its third year, Wear Black, Give Back saw new giving records and experienced an outpouring of support for UNO compared to the previous year. Some record-breaking highlights include:
- More than 517 faculty and staff members made gifts totaling $44,430, besting the 2021 total of 320 givers.
- More than 475 current students contributed more than $11,000, more than double the 2021 total of 231 student donors.
- Donors from 45 U.S. states and nine countries participated.
- Gifts ranged from $5 to $100,000.
- More than 60 lead sponsors provided more than $275,000 in event challenge gifts.
Student organizations also participated in this year’s challenge. More than 57 groups collectively raised more than $34,000 for their programs, activities and service projects. In 2021, 35 groups raised just more than $21,000.
Mavforensics, UNO’s nationally-ranked competitive speech team, showed up on top of the student groups for the second year.
“This is the second year in a row this small but mighty squad has topped the student organization charts for WBGB,” Riley Smith, Mavforensics captain, said. “This team is full of hardworking, driven and passionate students who put their heart into this activity every day.”
The team’s 93 donors raised $5,803 for travel, competition registration, the cost of hosting tournaments at UNO and to purchase supplies. Mavforensics is attending a national tournament in California this year. The goal was to travel with the whole squad.
“Not having the entire team would be heartbreaking, as each of these students work so hard all year around to get to this tournament and share their message,” Smith said. “We are so incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to partake in this giving day, and because it impacts us so much, our team will always put in the extra hours each year to raise this money.”
