The Best Is Yet to Come: The Campaign for Baruch’s Future

Alumni Enthusiasm Grows Annual Giving

When Baruch is considered for grants from corporations and foundations, one of the first questions asked is, “How many of your alumni give back?” Alumni may be surprised to learn that their gifts to the College—no matter their size—help Baruch attract millions of dollars in support. That’s good news for 7,300-plus alumni and friends who have participated so far in the current campaign. Of the approximately 48,000 gifts Baruch has received during the campaign, more than 44,000 (or 92 percent) were under $1,000.

To underscore the point that gifts of every size matter, in 2011 Allen G. Aaronson (’48) issued a challenge: He would donate $200,000 if the alumni community set a new record for the number of individuals supporting the Baruch College Fund in one year. Aaronson, CEO and president of AVRS, a management company, was delighted when over 6,200 alumni responded, topping the previous record. Aaronson has given substantial gifts to support the expansion of student activities and subsequently the Department of Marketing and International Business (later named in his honor) and is also a member of the College’s 17 Lex Society.

[pullquote sid=”pullquote-1369939665″]The Baruch Means Business campaign has changed the perception of the College on the part of alumni and other donors. People are increasingly aware of the importance that private support plays, especially as public funding from New York State continues to decline. In fact, philanthropic giving now accounts for about 10 percent of Baruch’s overall budget.[/pullquote]

Connecting Through the 17 Lex Society

Named in 2007 for the historic Field Building at 17 Lexington Avenue, the 17 Lex Society is the premier leadership giving society at the College. Inaugurated with six levels of giving starting at $1,000, the Society added discounted Associate-level memberships in 2009 to make participation more attractive for recent grads.

Sulexan Chery (’12) (right, photo right), a Society Associate since 2011, took advantage of the new program because he believes in Baruch. A rating specialist at Standard & Poor’s (S&P) and Executive MBA student at Yale, Chery has stayed actively involved with Baruch, mentoring students and referring some for positions at S&P. Chery also values the opportunity to network with seasoned executives, one of the benefits of his membership in the 17 Lex Society.

Like Chery, Randolph Sepe (’87) (right) is also a Society member and a Yalie. A rock guitarist/composer, he switched his major from statistics to music and found a role model and valuable mentor in Music Professor Andrew Tomasello (today deputy chair of the fine and performing arts department), who laid out a plan for him that included Ivy League graduate studies. Having earned a PhD in music theory from Yale, Sepe now puts his statistical training to use as the manager of customer and sales growth at the cloud computing company Salesforce, which matches gifts to Baruch. (Read more about these 17 Lex Society members.)

Currently the 17 Lex Society has over 400 members; gifts from its members constitute 80 percent of all cash gifts to the College.

Student Scholarships: Gratitude Comes Full Circle

Financial aid remains a lifeline for so many deserving Baruch students for whom higher education would otherwise be an impossible dream. During academic year 2011–12, 46.2 percent of the 13,000+ undergraduates enrolled—or more than 6,000 students—received need-based aid. Thanks to campaign donations, an additional 600 top-performing students received scholarship aid as well. The importance of this basic support reverberates with Baruch alumni, who remember their own struggles.

Baruch couple Christine Li-Au-Yeung (’00, ’02, EMS-FSA ’09) and Raymond Au-Yeung (EMS-FSA ’09) (left) were inspired to donate seed money to fund new scholarships when they read the story of Nadja Fidelia (’02) in the Spring/Summer 2012 issue of the alumni magazine. Like Fidelia, who committed over $100,000 to the campaign in gratitude for the education she received, the Au-Yeungs decided to give back. As an undergrad, Christine had been a scholarship student herself.
Christine, who works for an asset management company, and Raymond, who works for a large media outfit, combined $500 of their own money and a matching gift from his company to create two $250 awards for outstanding students in the Peers for Careers program plus support for the program itself. The couple chose Peers for Careers as the recipient because of Christine’s long association with the Peers for Careers program, which trains students to serve as paraprofessional career coaches to other students. (Read more about the Au-Yeungs.)

It’s a Group Effort

Some enterprising and caring alumni have discovered ways to fund scholarships other than through individual donation. Such groups as the Saxe ’55 House Plan and Alpha Phi Omega (APO) fraternity have created meaningful scholarships, as have bighearted Reunion classes. In fact, this year’s 60th anniversary Class of ’53 hopes to raise $225,000 to further endow the scholarship it created in honor of its 50th Reunion.

Originally 92 donors contributed over $133,000 to the Norman Darer Class of 1953 Scholarship, with the fundraising efforts spearheaded by Jerry Pickholz (’53) and named in honor of their senior class president. Says Pickholz, “I wanted our class gift to provide scholarships to however many students we could, who were worthy and burdened by tuition . . . . Think of the luxury we had of going to a free college, and then think about what kids go through today.”

No one is more aware that campaign success continues to be the result of the commitment by thousands of alumni and friends of the College than is Baruch College President Mitchel B. Wallerstein. “Through the Baruch Means Business campaign, the College received more donations than ever before,” says President Wallerstein, “but we still have great need around student scholarships. Endowment support for academic departments and naming of rooms in the Newman Vertical Campus are tangible campaign accomplishments, but nothing is more rewarding or urgently needed than providing scholarship support to enable deserving students to receive a first-class higher education and go on to make a difference in the world.”

Contributing Photographers: Phil Gallo, Denis Gostev (’13), Pat Imbimbo, Elena Olivo, Adrienne Preuss (’07), Amalia Reinhardt, Jerry Speier, Jesse Winter