By MARIANA ZEPEDA ’14
Online Editor
Staff Photographer
Senate brought a sad announcement to campus on Feb. 11: The beloved s’mores fund had run out. Mei-Mei Tuan ’88, the alumna who donated the fund back in 2005, has now generously agreed to replenish it.
“As soon as [Tuan] found out that the s’mores fund needed replenishing, she pledged to make an additional gift,” said Sheila A. Zarba-Campbell, the director of leadership gifts at the Office for Resources. Zarba-Campbell expects the fund to be reactivated in the next few weeks.
The s’mores fund, originally called “S’mores Galore,” was donated in the same year that the Lulu Chow Wang Campus Center was first built, though Tuan noted that it wasn’t in operation until the following year. Tuan first got the idea of donating a s’mores fund from the fire pit outside of the Lulu.
“Lulu [Chow Wang] was a big fan of s’mores and hot chocolate, which was why the center had a fire pit,” Tuan said. “At the time, I wondered who would provide the ‘fixings’ for s’mores. Would the girls have to bring their own?”
At a fundraiser, Tuan chatted with Harold Tanner—the donor for the Tanner Conference—about the newly built Lulu fire pit. He joked that Tuan should fund the s’mores herself.
“At first, I didn’t take it seriously,” Tuan said. “But a few months later, Lulu, having heard about this conversation, called and suggested that I fund s’mores in an ongoing way.”
Today, the fund is officially named the “S’mores and More Events Fund,” which allows for greater flexibility in allocating resources to other Wellesley community events besides roasting s’mores. The fund has been used to finance other events around campus, notably the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life’s “Difficult Dialogues” series, Zarba-Campbell explained.
“The fund has enhanced the quality of life on campus in other ways besides providing s’mores, and may do so again in the future if the demand for s’mores declines,” Zarba-Campbell said.
Since its establishment, the purpose of the fund has been to promote community on campus. By helping finance other events to serve Wellesley College, the fund has fostered community on campus well beyond its original conception.
“When I was at Wellesley, we spent many memorable hours lingering in the dining halls, talking with our friends, eating, procrastinating and most importantly, listening and providing support to each other,” Tuan said. “Those are my most cherished memories of Wellesley, and s’mores is just another manifestation of that precious dynamic.
