Still, wanting to see what else was in store for me in the letter, I kept on reading. Your note continues in its glowing manner, touching on many of the usual reasons why people opt against donating to the Senior Gift. "As any one of our 200 Senior Gifters would be happy to tell you, a contribution to Senior Gift speaks to your commitment to this community and its improvement," you write. I guess that I'm supposed to feel bad that I haven't yet seen the light.

But just after you say that all you really want is a contribution to Senior Gift, it becomes clear that what you really want is a contribution of a certain amount. I am urged to donate at least $10.00, so that my gift will "count" toward a goal of 71 percent class participation. I take this to mean that only some donations truly "count." You will gladly accept my $9.99, but it doesn't really help you get to that magical 71 percent, at which point an anonymous family "associated with our class" will kick in an additional $24,000. With this last point, it becomes quite clear that you care less about people actually giving for the sake of giving, and more about them giving a certain amount.

Nevertheless, my most serious concerns with the fund drive are not those that you address in the letter, but simply the attitude that surrounds giving to the Senior Gift. The representative from Senior Gift who came to my room to solicit us for money couldn't have been less convincing about why we should donate. When my roommates and I politely declined to participate, he wanted a reason. And when we gave him a few, he proceeded to record our refusal and our reasons on his clipboard. I felt like we were being observed in a mental hospital: "Subjects just don't seem to get it." We were put on the defensive, made to feel like conscientious objectors to something that's supposed to be about good will.

Why must this be such a confrontational process?

As I said earlier, I empathize with the job that the Senior Gift committee has, of convincing people like me to donate the money. I do not doubt that you all care deeply-as do I-about Harvard College.

But the Senior Gift drive has gotten away from wanting to give something back to Harvard, and become more about guilting people into participating. Soliciting donations, to be sure, typically involves some convincing, but your tactics have gone too far.

Thanks to your letter-in which you treat non-givers like social pariahs-you have made it certain that I will not make a donation to Harvard this year. Several other seniors who also received your letter have expressed similar feelings to me.