RPi Giving Day 2025

Now, more than ever, the world needs RPI — our innovative faculty, dynamic students, and fearless alumni who continue to change the world. Our students are tomorrow’s engineers, research scientists, inventors, innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs. Your gift right now will help us invest in and empower their future success.

Student Experience Excellence Fund

Gifts to the Student Experience Excellence Fund enhance student life by supporting student leadership, experiential learning, academic success, and inclusive programming that fosters meaningful connections. Examples include:

• Programs that support the overall health and well-being of students.
• Initiatives that enhance social and cross-cultural skills, fostering greater awareness and understanding while helping students engage in meaningful conversations with their peers.
• Enhancing experiential learning and leadership opportunities.
• Creating inclusive programming and spaces for BIPOC, LGBTQ+, First-Generation, neurodiverse, and other marginalized student communities enabling them to fully engage in campus life.
• Providing students with the support and resources they need to excel academically.
  

Undergraduate Student Relief Fund

This is an emergency fund for Rensselaer students who face financial hardship that threatens their academic progress during their time at Rensselaer. This fund supports current undergraduate students whose financial situation has abruptly changed in a manner which may impede their continued enrollment at Rensselaer. The Undergraduate Student Relief Fund provides one-time grants to undergraduate students in immediate need, for things like emergency travel expenses, medical bills not covered by insurance, or replacement costs for essential academic supplies or personal items.

Graduate Student Relief Fund

Similar to the Undergraduate Student Relief Fund, this emergency fund provides needed assistance to graduate students who face unexpected expenses that could jeopardize their success at Rensselaer.

Class of 1957 Spectrum Fund

The Class of 1957 Spectrum Award was created in 2017 in honor of the Class of 1957’s 60th Reunion. The Reunion Planning Committee wanted to plan a class gift which would be directly tied to their class and leave a lasting impact on Rensselaer.

To accomplish that objective, to re-emphasize the Class’s long-standing legacy of generosity, and to keep their strong commitment to Rensselaer and to community service, they created an endowed prize fund which will carry the class name in perpetuity: The “Class of 1957 Spectrum Award: Academics, Service, and Involvement.” This award is given annually to a junior or senior engineering student with an outstanding academic record who also exemplifies the heart and attitude of community service.

Thanks to the generous support from many of the members of the Class of 1957, we are nearing a donation total of $250,000, and the award has now been presented to eight outstanding students.

Diversity Initiative Fund

Rensselaer remains dedicated to educating future generations of leaders to address the challenges facing our world. In order to do this, we must attract, enroll, and retain the most talented students, regardless of socioeconomic background. The Diversity Initiative Fund supports initiatives focused on the recruitment of diverse populations of prospective students. The fund ensures visitation opportunities and continues recruiting for diverse populations of prospective students through the Office of Admissions so those students can experience first-hand all that a Rensselaer education has to offer.

Bridge Scholars Program Fund

For over 30 years, the Bridge Scholars Program has allowed entering students to participate in rigorous academic instruction and to develop the skills necessary for academic and personal success at Rensselaer. Help us continue the tradition of providing an exemplary Rensselaer education to talented under-represented students.

I-PERSIST Mentor Program

A collaboration between the School of Science and Division of Student Life, this program is designed for first-year students registered for Calculus I, Chemistry I or Physics I during the fall semester of their first year at RPI. Students are assigned into small groups, and sessions are run by an undergraduate student mentor, with a focus on skill-building and subject-specific academic support.

LGBTQ+ Gift Fund

Your support of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Gift Fund will help fund campus initiatives such as RPI’s Lavender Graduation, an annual celebration of graduating LGBTQ+ students and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

This event serves as an opportunity to celebrate the unique achievements and obstacles that many LGBTQ+ students experience while studying at, and graduating from, Rensselaer, as well as to recognize individual students, faculty, staff, and alumni for their contributions to the campus community.

The support provided by donors and attendees reinforces the dedication and commitment to our LGBTQ+ students’ and graduates’ success, and helps make this event possible from start to finish!