Students at the School of Business and Civic Administration were eager to do what they could to support the World War II war effort. Selling war bonds and stamps they raised $75,000 for a plane to bear the name “Spirit of CCNY.”
On October 6, 1943 a representative from the Treasury Department presented the college with a certificate declaring that the “Spirit of C.C.N.Y.” was going to take to the air. This made all of the hard work raising money worth while.
From The Ticker, October 6, 1943
However, the excitement was short-lived, and when the students wrote a letter to the Treasury Department asking where the plane was the answer was “what plane?” Finally a Treasury Department spokesperson noted that the plane would be christened within a half a year. The War Department promised a picture of the plane.
An article in The New York Times, February 19, 1944 acknowledged that a photograph of the plane with the words “Spirit of C.C.N.Y.” was received by the School of Business.
From the Baruch College Archives