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| January 15, 2002 Vol. 23, No. 17  CURRENT ISSUEBACK ISSUES
Notable donors
Published weekly during the academic year by the Office of Communications and Marketing, 3699 Vestal Parkway East, Vestal, N.Y. 13850.John Hachtel, associate vice president of communications and marketing; Anita Knopp Doll, director of communications; Marty Doorey, editor; Katie Ellis, Janice Endrissen, Gail Glover, Susan E. Barker, Karen Fennie, John Hartrick, Ingrid Husisian, Sandra Paniccia, Susann Viafora, contributing writers; Evangelos Dousmanis, photography; Libby Graves, webmaster. Phone 607-777-6366. COMMENTS: Email Inside. BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY |
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A personal message from
Faculty members Marilyn Gaddis Rose and Stephen David Ross, whose multimillion-dollar planned gifts support programs in comparative literature and philosophy and established a fund for collaborative projects between BU and local non-profit agencies and schools 
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| SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King congratulates BU President Lois B. DeFleur during an announcement Tuesday, January 15, that BU had raised $38.4 million, exceeding its $36 million campaign goal well ahead of schedule. "This is great news," declared King. (Photo by Evangelos Dousmanis)
Milestones |
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BY SUSANN THIEL
Private fundraising at Binghamton University has notched a milestone achievement – the University’s first comprehensive gifts campaign has surpassed its $36 million goal, well ahead of schedule.SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King joined University President Lois B. DeFleur Tuesday in Binghamton to announce that the campaign has raised more than $38.4 million to date and will close down June 30, a year earlier than planned.
"We're very proud of you," King told a gathering of donors, volunteers and University officials at the Anderson Center Reception Room. "This is great news for the future of our university. Keep going."
King, who has set a $1 billion goal in external support for the SUNY system, said private support is the only way the University has to rise to the next level of excellence. "The reality is we will never have all the resources we need if we simply rely on tuition or the state government for support."
The $38.4 million figure includes a $1 million gift from the Dr. G. Clifford and Florence B. Decker Foundation to endow a faculty chair in rural nursing. The gift was announced at the session. It is the second faculty chair in nursing endowed by the Decker Foundation, which is the University’s largest single donor with almost $5 million in gifts since 1986.
"Because of the Decker Foundation's support, Binghamton will better prepare our nurses for clinical care and research in under-served rural areas, especially in and around Broome County," DeFleur said. "Raising support for faculty and for our academic programs is one of the primary goals of the Believe in Binghamton campaign, and we are proud of what we have achieved to date."
But the fundraising push is by no means over, DeFleur emphasized. Critical new needs have arisen since: merit scholarships, flexible funds for academic initiatives, support for faculty and instructional and research laboratories, and funds to furnish and equip new facilities such as the University Union addition and athletic Field House.
And with increased competition for high quality students and faculty, a weak economy and the need for more public dollars to support recovery efforts downstate, private support for higher education is more important than ever, DeFleur said.
"Alumni, faculty and staff, friends and supporters from the Southern Tier and across the nation have all participated in our efforts," said DeFleur, noting that nearly 32,000 donors have contributed to the campaign to date. Sixty five percent of the donors are alumni.
The campaign would not have succeeded without thousands of volunteers who contributed in non-monetary ways, DeFleur said. "This has been an effort that united the campus and its supporters – from the many student volunteers who worked the phones for telefund drives to the alumni who opened their homes and businesses for campaign events. It involved everyone from executives at the most prestigious addresses on Wall Street and in Silicon Valley, to faculty and staff who volunteered their time and efforts in our Binghamton fundraising. And of course, so many friends from the Southern Tier gave their time and financial support in our annual Community Campaign.
Carl Ernstrom ’61, co-chair of the campaign steering committee, said he was particularly proud of the role alumni played in the success of the campaign. "As alumni, we share a passion for the University that comes from direct experience. We believe in Binghamton University and want to ensure that it remains among the top public universities in the state and the nation."
Also participating in the announcement were students who have benefited from scholarships. Michael Vermilyea ’03, an electrical technician studying computer science, said his scholarship, endowed by the late J. Donald Ahearn, allowed him to reduce his working hours enough to study full time and still have time with his wife and infant son.
Melisa Clarke ’02 has won four scholarships, helping her to overcome an economically disadvantaged childhood in Jamaica to become a track and field champion, a academic high achiever and an outstanding peer mentor. She plans to enter medical school and become a dermatologist.
And Kathleen Minerly ’04 spoke of how a scholarship is helping her to realize her dream of becoming an emergency room physician. One of nine foster children growing up on a farm west of Elmira, Minerly’s foster parents, with nine children of their own, could not contribute toward her college education.