BUFFALO, N.Y. – More than 200 alumni, parents and friends helped SUNY Geneseo roll out the Buffalo phase of the college’s largest-ever fundraising campaign Nov. 3 at the Park Country Club in Buffalo, N.Y.

“Tonight we celebrate a new era in the life of Geneseo,” said master of ceremonies and 1996 Geneseo graduate Jill Yonkers, an attorney and partner with the law firm Hodgson Russ LLP in Buffalo. “This campaign will have a lasting and powerful impact on Geneseo, a place that has shaped the lives of so many young men and women.”

Some 5,000 Geneseo alumni live in the Buffalo area. Under the theme “Shaping Lives of Purpose,” the college’s national campaign has a goal of raising between $22-25 million from alumni, faculty and staff, parents and friends to enhance the college’s endowment and strengthen its program offerings to students. The campaign has already raised $16.8 million.

Geneseo President Christopher C. Dahl praised the leaders of the Geneseo Foundation and members of the alumni regional committees for motivating donors during the private phase of the campaign. The college is dedicated to reaching an endowment funding level that will generate greater annual earnings for college purposes.

“As I have traveled across the country meeting with alumni and parents, I have found that the Geneseo experiences that alumni share with me involve others who left their mark on the lives of students,” said Dahl. “It might be a teacher, a student-life mentor, a coach or a residence hall director, but that person changed the course of life for a young person who may not have had a clear sense of self. There is something about this college that brings together people who forge meaningful relationships.”

Three Buffalo-area alumni addressed the event, all focusing on the impact Geneseo has had on their lives.

“The people I learned the most from at Geneseo were my professors,” said Tracie Lopardi Brown, a 1995 Geneseo graduate and an attorney with the law firm Harris Beach PLLC in Buffalo. “So many of my teachers and mentors taught me to expect more of myself and encouraged me to ‘dig deeper’ and work harder. I learned what it means to invest in the people around you and learn from each other.”

Chris Brown, a 1994 Geneseo graduate and lead journalist for the Buffalo Bills, echoed his wife's sentiments noting that Geneseo gave him more than four years of college.

“Geneseo gave me the education I needed to succeed—and a partner for life.”

Also addressing the event were Buffalo native Jim Leary, a 1975 Geneseo graduate and executive director of the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP, and Bill Cook, professor of history at Geneseo. Leary praised Cook for the guidance he gave him as a student at Geneseo. The two have remained friends over the years.

The organization responsible for the college’s fundraising, The Geneseo Foundation, is sponsoring a series of special events for alumni, faculty, parents and friends around the country throughout the year to roll out the campaign 

Chairing the campaign is foundation board member Frank Vafier, a 1974 Geneseo graduate and co-founder of Prolifics, a technology consulting firm.

Geneseo’s campaign is aimed at five major goals:

1) Support for the newly created Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Leadership through a series of endowed funds and current purpose funds. The center will support student research projects; civic engagement experiences; lectureships that attract leaders and entrepreneurs from science, business and education; and a student ambassadors program in which students will pursue research and community service projects of their own design.
2) Support for a strong investment in the college’s scholarship program
3) Support for the college’s faculty and academic programs through investment in high-impact learning experiences, research, interdisciplinary coursework and strong library resources
4) Support for the expansion of opportunities in the college’s global education program
5) Support for the college’s athletic program as an integral part of a comprehensive student experience

The foundation has created 18 regional alumni committees across the country, who are underwriting campaign launch events for fellow alumni in their areas. Other launch events are scheduled throughout the year in Denver; Tampa, Fla.; Charlotte; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Boston; Westchester, Conn.; Syracuse, N.Y.; Albany, N.Y.; Long Island, N.Y. and Chicago.

Media Contact:
David Irwin
Media Relations Manager
(585) 245-5516
Irwin@geneseo.edu