Version2.ai’s announcement of pilot partnership with Wheaton on LinkedIn.
Wheaton will begin its pilot program of an A.I. chatbot named Sarah to help maintain alumni and donor relationships, said an announcement on LinkedIn from Version2.ai three months ago in early December.
Version2.ai’s Sarah is called a “virtual engagement officer,” and will “help keep donors engaged” near the end of fundraising campaigns. Wheaton is not the first higher education institution to partner with Version2.ai; the website for the A.I. features positive reviews from administrators at Wake Forest University, La Salle University, and Bucknell University, among others.
The mission of Version2.ai is to provide non-profits with a tool that can perform the entire process of finding and communicating with donors, as well as successfully soliciting donations, “all autonomously with no human intervention.” In the announcement, Version2.ai congratulated members of the Alumni Relations and Giving department at Wheaton College for this “exciting milestone.” Version.AI said that this new partnership will allow Wheaton College to “grow their fundraising capacity and deepen donor relationships.”
This pilot program arrives with other recent implementations of A.I. by Wheaton College, specifically by Dining Services with the kiosk in Emerson Dining Hall (also known as 1834 Grill), as well as the institutional approval of Gemini in the Google Workspace. However, Wheaton College’s Honor Code policies regarding A.I. remain intact, and the extent of A.I. use within classes is up to each individual professor.
While Wheaton College was tagged in the LinkedIn post, this announcement was not posted to their LinkedIn page. There has not been an official or widespread announcement from Wheaton to the college community.
This lack of transparency has been a source of concern for some students. Audrey Kohl (’28), learned the information through a student organization Discord server, from another student who had seen the LinkedIn announcement.
Kohl also expressed that generative A.I. feels very exploitative, and they object to its use to mimic human relationships and conversations. They said the chatbot can’t say, “I love hanging out at Emerson because the vibes were great,” because “this chatbot doesn’t have their own experience of hanging out at Emerson and talking with their friends.”
Alumni also expressed concerns about the use of A.I. in maintaining relationships. Carolyn Pralle ’14, said “A.I. inherently cannot “have life and have it abundantly” as our motto states.” While she believes that A.I. can have appropriate uses, donor relations is not one of them, and that “the implicit message is ‘we want your money, but we don’t want to actually engage with you.’” Kristin Sundin Brandt ’94, said she finds organizations to be too quick to pursue technological solutions in place of human ones, saying “I think it’s safe to say a virtual engagement officer, regardless of what we name them, is unlikely to get me to donate in the future.”
According to Merrit Crowley, Vice President for College Ad-vancement, the staff of Donor and Alumni Relations remains intact, and there have not been any layoffs as a result of the pilot program with Version2.ai.
Professor of Practice for the Digital Media and Communications Department, Joerg Blumtritt, said that while he understands the concerns that students have, investing in alumni relations can be seen as positive. According to Blumtritt, “embracing new developments and just doing things is also positive. Because in the end, where is the harm done? It’s not making any difficult political statements that would be not so easy to roll back.
Additionally, potential donors and alumni can at any point ask to speak to a human and be directed to a member of Wheaton’s Advancement team. An additional consideration that Crowley said was important when considering the pilot program was ensuring that alumni would have the ability to opt out of using it to interact with the college. Going forward, the way donors and alumni interact with Sarah of Version2.ai will likely determine what direction the college chooses to go with artificial intelligence.
On February 4th, 2026, Wheaton’s Athletic Day of Donors, there was a wave of Instagram advertising from Wheaton’s various sports teams. From baseball to artistic swimming, Wheaton sports team leaders made heartfelt appeals towards donors to make additional considerations of generosity. These are students who can-and are-speaking about their experiences at Wheaton, something that A.I., as Kohl previously pointed out, cannot do.
This pilot program will test whether the charm of Wheaton College can be captured and communicated by A.l., and, whether this will make an impact when it comes to donations.
“Human labor, human creativity, human ingenuity are all elements that excite me about being a part of the Wheaton com-munity. As an alumna who lives far away from campus, I love reading about the research and art and people featured in the Wheaton Magazine,” said Pralle.
Hopefully A.l. can increase contributions to Wheaton and keep its unique, human spirit alive.