When students return from spring break March 29, they'll be greeted with six days of quarter-page ads in The Cornell Daily Sun featuring messages of support and hope from university administrators and faculty members.

The free ads -- simple, direct quotes from Vice President for Student and Academic Services Susan Murphy, Dean of Students Kent Hubbell, psychology professor James Maas, Counseling and Psychological Services director Gregory Eells, student representative to the board of trustees Asa Craig '11, and Student Assembly President Rammy Salem '10 -- are part of an effort by Sun staff to reach out to the community following the deaths of three students recently on campus.

The idea to donate ad space to worthy causes -- a campaign called "The Cornell Daily Sun Gives Back" -- was actually proposed last year, said Chloe Gatta '12, coordinator of new business ventures for the student-run newspaper; but it was set aside until Dan Baicker '11, the Sun's former marketing manager, now studying abroad in Rome, heard about the deaths. Baicker was a friend of Matthew Zika, who died March 12.

"He was devastated," said Gatta. "He contacted Sun staff to see if it was possible to use the Sun to reach out to the Cornell community, which he knew was sharing his pain."

Gatta worked with Murphy and others in the administration and at the Sun to solicit the quotes and design the layout.

"This has been a tremendous opportunity for me to work with the Cornell administration," Gatta said. "Everyone has been extremely appreciative and diligent in making The Cornell Daily Sun advertisements into a reality in such a short period of time."

The Sun will continue to donate ad space to charities periodically, Gatta said. "The Cornell Daily Sun is a source of information for every single person who steps on campus, [so] it's only natural that we'd want to give back to the community that gives us so much."