It's Time To
Earn Your Hat Pins!
My Dear Alumni,
Today, we launch our first-ever Alumni Engagement Campaign. The campaign, which will run until Graduation (May 19th, 2025), has as its goal 100% participation from our alumni.
It’s an ambitious goal, yes! But since when has Wyoming Catholic College shied away from a challenge?
To help us reach this goal, we’re making use of our new hatpins. How, you ask? Let me set the stage: As many of you know, Commencement 2024 featured a bit of a twist on our beloved graduation traditions. The Stetson each of our graduates receives upon completion of the program has always been an “informal” (if beloved) part of our festivities, but this year marked the first time it served as part of the formal academic regalia. Gone, the ubiquitous mortarboard (and tassel) that is present at all other college graduations, replaced by a black cowboy hat and a hatpin, bearing the College’s official brand and the year of graduation. (Mr. Susanka, who has been taking the class picture from the very beginning, was ecstatic at the change. “It’s so much more photogenic,” he exclaimed.)
While the Class of 2024 was the first to benefit from this new tradition—a change that was far too long in coming, I’m sure some of you will say—the College is hoping to “retrofit” as many of your Stetsons as possible. And so, for every one of our graduates who signs up for a recurring gift of $10-a-month (an annual gift of $120) or sends along a one-time gift of $150, we will send the pin that corresponds to their graduation year. (We’re not leaving you out, non-graduates! While the hat pin itself is being reserved for graduates, we’ll be sending along along a new collection of stickers we’ve designed for the College, so you can still publicly proclaim your affection for your alma mater!)
To achieve our ambitious goal, we need your help. First, of course, we ask you to participate yourself. As I was reflecting on the growing number of graduates, I realized that if each of the 434 young men and women who have received diplomas from Wyoming Catholic were to donate at the $120 level, we would be able to raise more than $52,000 each year! (Yes, we’d be happier for a monthly commitment than an annual one, even if the overall amount is a bit less. As Aristotle says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” And what we really want is to help cultivate the virtue of gratitude towards your alma mater!)
Even if the annual commitment is not right for you at this time, please consider giving something to your alma mater between now and Graduation. 100% participation would be a wonderful message to pass along to our supporters:
Those people who have known the College best—you, her graduations, who have spent four years immersed in this extraordinary educational environment—have ALL given back, so that others may experience the same transformational education they did!
The second way we need your help is just as important: Pass this message along to any alumni friends you know, to ensure it gets to everyone. It is the reality of a young alumni base (such as ours) that many of you move around with great regularity, and we don’t always know where you are. So if you can ensure this message gets to every alumni in your circle of friends, we know it will get to everyone.
Oh, and encourage one another to participate!! We’ll be sure to report back on our progress, including which classes have been most responsive and most generous. It’s not a competition, of course…but it’s pretty close to one. So to ensure that gifts are correctly tabulated (and to make it easier for you to share with your classmates), we’ve created individual pages for each class, as well as a general page for non-graduates. Please make use of these pages, which you will find at the end of this message.
Thank you for considering this request, and may God bless you.
President Kyle Washut
president@wyomingcatholic.edu
P.S. We’re hoping each alumni will be able to commit to at least a $10 monthly (recurring) gift for the general needs of the College. For those of you who are already making such a gift (or who are supporting either a COR missionary or The Shoegold Fund at that level and are unable to make an additional commitment), please reach out to pins@wyomingcatholic.edu so that we can properly credit you for your current level of support. God bless you!
Gift Forms by Class
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | Alumni (Non-Graduates) |
