Dear members of King’s community,
September’s palpable energy—excited, nervous first-year students and the joy of rekindled friendships among returning students—has given way to that other familiar, comforting rhythm of engagement and discovery that makes King’s what it is and always has been. Though different generations of students have understood those discoveries and engagements in different ways, we, students and faculty alike, are a unique gathering of individuals driven by the search for deeper understanding and brought together in a spirit of service.
The generosity of King’s alumni, parents and so many other friends of the College is another annual tradition that benefits students and strengthens our community as a whole. Each year we ask for your participation in King’s Annual Giving Fund. Your gift supports the academic pursuits of today’s students, enriches their campus experience and supports the continued celebration of the many well-loved traditions that link this generation of students to those who came before and to the generations of donors who support them.
The College has undergone physical and academic transformations over the years, and still, King’s distinguishes itself as a leader in Canada in relation to intellectual development with a focus on core texts in all our programs, including journalism. At the graduate level our journalism and writing and publishing degrees are unique in Canada. And, while much is being made of how ChatGPT and LLMs are going to make journalism and the humanities obsolete, we at King’s are adopting another view: now more than ever is the time to re-invest in the King’s style of education as a way of honing the skills of thinking and judgement, understanding context, and cultivating selfhood and community.
For all that has changed, and will continue to change, what has not altered is the quality of our students who, year after year, bring King’s buildings and classes to life.
And for this, we ask for your support.
Underpinning all of our progress and our ability to support our students is the dedication, engagement and generosity of King’s faculty, staff, alumni, parents and our wider community of friends. Underscored by the unwavering support of individuals like you, the Annual Giving Fund is unique because it provides ongoing, flexible support to the King’s experience.
When you give to the Annual Fund, you can allow King’s to direct your gift to the area of greatest need, you can support student financial awards, or you can direct your gift to a particular area or program of King’s that is important to you.
Last year, gifts from individuals like you helped King’s to enrich our academic programs; fund scholarships, bursaries and student jobs; advance our aspirations to be a more equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible university that contributes meaningfully to reconciliation; improve student spaces and supports; and offer tuition waivers to students who were formerly in care. Plus, you helped send the winning Badminton team to Nationals!
Annual Fund gifts give King’s both the stability and the flexibility to address needs, challenges and opportunities in a uniquely fluid and unpredictable time.
As a faculty member and the University’s Vice-President, I have the pleasure of being able to contribute to King’s in many ways, each day. And every year I also make a financial contribution to King’s because I know, firsthand, that Annual Fund support – your support – has been, and continues to be, critically important to the ability of King’s to meet the needs of today and create the opportunities of tomorrow.
Please join me this year in making a gift to King’s Annual Giving Fund, and thank you for continuing to care.
Yours truly,
Sarah Clift
Vice-President, Associate Professor Contemporary Studies and Foundation Year
P.S. Please know you have many giving options. You can investigate at www.ukings.ca/alumni/giving/ways-to-give/ or give directly online at www.ukings.ca/giving; or you may contact King’s Director of Advancement Adriane Abbott at adriane.abbott@ukings.ca to make individual arrangements. Thanks again.