The fifth annual UMassGives, the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s 48-hour online fundraising event, raised a total of $338,622 from 5,107 gifts. UMassGives ran from Founders Day, April 27 to April 28. This year’s campaign raised more money than the previous two UMassGives events combined. In 2015, UMassGives raised $108,000. Last year, 2,148 gifts were made during UMassGives for a total of $184,000. This year, the total number of gifts more than doubled, and the dollars raised increased by 84 percent from the prior year.

UMass Amherst Alumni Association President Michaella Morzuch will present the 2017 Distinguished Alumni Awards at noon on Monday April 24, in the Great Hall of the Massachusetts State House in Boston. This year’s recipients include Michael Wessells ’73 MA, ’74 PhD, Distinguished Alumni Award; Suzin Bartley ’80, Distinguished Alumni Service Award; Robert Littleton Jr. ’71, Distinguished Alumni Service Award; Danielle O’Connor Dean ’10, Distinguished Young Alumni Award; Melissa James ’10, Distinguished Young Alumni Award; and Léonce NdikumanaDistinguished Faculty Award.

UMass Amherst is among the top colleges and universities in the country for producing Peace Corps volunteers. With 37 alumni serving worldwide last year, UMass Amherst ranks No. 1 among all New England schools and No. 21 nationally among universities with more than 15,000 undergraduates.