The Saint Mary's Senior Gift Campaign announced the Class of 2008 will donate a portrait of Sr. M. Madeleva Wolff to the College as they graduate to honor their experience on campus.
The new portrait will replace the current one in the lobby of Madeleva Hall, which has begun to show signs of disrepair.
"The old Madeleva memorial greatly needs updating," 2008 senior gift chair Beth McKevitt said. "The current portrait is extremely faded."
McKevitt said her committee wanted to find a gift that would reflect the Holy Cross mission of the College and originally considered leaving funds in place to repair the cross on top of LeMans Hall but that was too expensive. The committee then found out that Madeleva Hall would be renovated once the new academic building, Spes Unica Hall, opens in the fall.
"Once we discovered that Madeleva Hall would be undergoing major renovations in the near future it seemed very fitting to honor Sr. Madaleva in this way," McKevitt said. "[The Class of 2008] will be the last to have received the entirety of its education in the building... and we're excited for not only the renovation plans for the new building, but for a more vibrant portrayal of Sr. Madaleva to welcome visitors at the building's entrance."
Plans for the upcoming renovation have not yet been released.
Since the renovations will not be complete before the senior class leaves they will not see their actual gift before graduation, McKevitt said. The committee wanted the class to be able to see plans, however.
"We will be hosting a Senior Gift Dedication Ceremony outside Madeleva Hall immediately following the Alumni Luncheon [during Senior Week]," McKevitt said. "At the ceremony we hope to unveil some of the construction plans for Madeleva Hall along with a preliminary design for the new portrait."
The campaign has raised approximately $1,500 of the estimated $3,000 to $5,000 it will cost to donate the portrait, said Heather Frey, assistant director of Saint Mary's Annual Fund.
"This funding has come from individual gifts that members of the class give to the class campaign although we do other fundraisers like selling t-shirts, Karaoke Idol and Hacienda Night," Frey said. "Our goal is 100 percent participation from the class and so far we are at 34 percent."
Frey said the funds raised will be split 60-40 with 60 percent of the money going towards the portrait of Sr. Madeleva and 40 percent supporting the Annual Fund, which provides scholarships and financial aid for current Saint Mary's students.
