New Gift Commitments Mark Best Fundraising Effort in 15 years at Saint Rose

In a landmark year of donor generosity, The College of Saint Rose has received $2.5 million in recent gift commitments. The announcement was made by Saint Rose President, Dr. Carolyn J. Stefanco, on Monday at an annual gathering of faculty and staff to recognize the start of the academic year. The gifts were made in the 2017 fiscal year, which also marked the largest annual fundraising total in 15 years at $7.38 million.

“The College of Saint Rose has always been a giving community. These gift commitments will allow the College to further support what we do best: student learning,” Stefanco said. “College affordability is a challenging issue facing higher education. The majority of these recent gifts fund scholarship programs, opening up access to education for all. We are very grateful that our community supports our students with such generosity.”

An anonymous gift of $2 million will support a scholarship for students majoring in education.

“Teaching is a rewarding and challenging profession. Many of these recent gifts help students who are determined to have careers that assist others in achieving their potential,” said Margaret McLane, Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. “We appreciate that so many donors to Saint Rose have placed value upon our future educators by investing in them.”

The other gift, by former Saint Rose Board of Trustee member Jeff Beale, a 1977 graduate of the College, was a $500,000 pledge for an endowed scholarship for studio art students. Beale, Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Eaton Vance Corp. in Boston, one of the oldest investment management firms in the country, earned his Bachelor in Fine Arts at Saint Rose and credits the core values he learned there with influencing him in life and in business.

“I wanted to be able to help future students who are in that program not worry so much about paying the bill. It really was about my experience at Saint Rose, and especially Karene’s influence on my life and my work.”

Karene Faul was one of the founders of the art department at Saint Rose, and served as its chair from 1985 to 2012.

While the fall semester opens with good news, last spring semester closed with a similar announcement. The College received almost $4 million in gifts that support student learning, outpacing recent annual totals in just a four-month period. One gift of $1.5 million will be used to establish an endowed scholarship for students studying in the Saint Rose School of Mathematics and Sciences. A second gift of more than $1 million will endow a scholarship for students studying elementary education in the Thelma P. Lally School of Education. A third gift of more than $1 million can be used at the College’s discretion. All three donors asked that they remain anonymous.