Voting opens today for Penn State seniors who want to have a say in choosing their senior class gift. After over 150 ideas were submitted by students, faculty, and staff, the Senior Class Gift Committee narrowed down the results to three proposals that will help define the class of 2013.

“The tradition of senior class gifts is one that has stood for 122 years,” said senior Morgan Delaware, class gift committee overall chair to Penn State Live. “It might just be one of the most important traditions we have, as it encourages a lifetime of giving to Penn State, a University that was founded on philanthropy.

The three proposals are:

•  “We Are” Sculpture — The sculpture will spell out the words “We Are” in three dimensional letters with the words of the Penn State Alma Mater scrawled on them in Fred Lewis Pattee’s original handwriting.
• Rec Hall Beautification — This proposal would refurbish and add windows in the font of Rec Hall in spaces that are currently filled in with limestone.
• Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children Donation — This proposal gives a monetary donation to the new Penn State Hershey Center for the Protection of Children. This new center provides care to victims of child abuse who are in foster care, as well as provide legal advocacy for victims.

Well seniors, this should be a no brainer. The sculpture sounds dumb at first, Rec Hall beautification is nice but not necessary, but no one could argue with the great intentions of the last proposal. It shouldn’t matter that there will be no tangible recognition of the gift on campus — a donation to a children’s hospital would positively impact the most people out of the three options, and I would be shocked if it didn’t win easily.

Voting begins today and lasts through Friday. Seniors can vote for their favorite choice at http://giveto.psu.edu/VoteSCG or on the first floor of the HUB from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. every day. The class gift will be announced on October 24 in the HUB in a presentation with President Erickson.

Additionally, the Hintz family will endow a $50,000 Trustee Scholarship in the name of the 2013 class if they are able to reach their goal of obtaining 3,3000 pledges to the class gift by mid-April. The scholarship would go to students who need financial aid, and the payout will also be matched by the University.

Seniors — which option did you vote for? We’d love to hear from you, especially if you voted for either of the first two aesthetic options. Let us know your reasoning in the comments.