Cupcakes and several schmoozing Cardinal mascots formed part of the hoopla last Wednesday in Usdan, as the Red and Black Calling Society Tuition celebrated its first ever Tuition Transition Day. The experimental event was meant, in part,to raise awareness among students that much of their stay at Wesleyan is funded by alumni and other donors.

The Red and Black Calling Society is a primarily student organization that calls alumni on weekends and weekdays in order to raise funds towards the endowment. According to cards that were handed out at the event, Wesleyan students and their families pay $47,000 in tuition, room and board annually. Real tuition, however, reads the card, is $66,000, and those extra $19,000 dollars come from donors. As of Wednesday, Atwood said, if one metes out the tuition paid proportionally over the course of the year, student-paid tuition has now expired.

The event comes on the heels of a 5 percent increase in tuition for the 2008-2009 school year. Next year’s increase, however, according to a press release provided by Vice President of Media Relations Justin Harmon, is the lowest in quite some time.

Atwood said that the tuition hike only highlights the need for increased fundraising efforts.

“Tuition goes up slightly every year,” he said. “President Roth has a great initiative that we’re going to start using grants instead of loans, so we can get more high-caliber students. The only way we can do this is if we boost our efforts in fundraising to make up.”