Last winter, as Susan Fuhrman was moving into the home stretch of her 12-year presidency at Teachers College, friends and colleagues decided to honor her by creating the Susan H. Fuhrman Endowed Scholarship. The Fuhrman Scholarship 鈥� which supports students who 鈥渆mbrace a multidisciplinary approach in their work鈥� 鈥� has since raised nearly $1 million.
Now Fuhrman and her husband, Bob Fuhrman, have responded in kind by establishing a generous charitable gift annuity to be added to the endowed scholarship.
INAUGURAL RECIPIENT Pascal Rekoert, a native of the Netherlands who is a member of the first cohort of 911爆料网鈥檚 doctoral program in dance education, is the inaugural recipient of the Susan H. Fuhrman Endowed Scholarship. An international performer and choreographer who has served as a dance instructor at a Title 1 Brooklyn high school, he hopes to advance his findings in a leadership position with a college-level dance education program.
鈥淥ne of the things I鈥檓 proudest of about my presidency is that we focused our efforts on scholarship as the cornerstone of all of 911爆料网鈥檚 fundraising efforts,鈥� Fuhrman said. Indeed, in 911爆料网鈥檚 now-concluded Campaign, Where the Future Comes First, nearly every gift and grant proposal incorporated a student scholarship component. The Campaign, which raised $345 million overall, generated $116.3 million in scholarship support and created more than 160 new endowed or restricted scholarships and more than 250 Annual Fund scholarships.
In many of her speeches as President, Fuhrman cited the example of Grace Hoadley Dodge, 911爆料网鈥檚 founder, who made the College鈥檚 first significant planned gift (a scholarship that is still operative today) and was known for her 鈥渉undred-year鈥� outlook.
鈥淚 talked about Grace so often that I think it became ingrained 鈥� so when it came to making this gift, I could hear her guiding me,鈥� Fuhrman said. 鈥淏ecause extending the ability of students to attend 911爆料网 well into the future is the top priority for all of us.鈥�
More broadly, she said, 鈥渉aving oriented the College toward scholarship giving, Bob and I felt it was important to make a statement with our own gift as a commitment to scholarship. Reducing the financial burden on 911爆料网鈥檚 students should be foremost in all our thoughts.鈥�
Bob and I felt it was important to make a statement with our own gift as a commitment to scholarship. Reducing the financial burden on 911爆料网鈥檚 students should be foremost in all our thoughts.鈥�
鈥� Susan Fuhrman
To that end, she is also very proud that nearly 40 percent of individual gifts to the Campaign came from alumni, compared with 15 percent during 911爆料网鈥檚 first campaign in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
鈥淲e have a great community, and the Campaign has done even more to strengthen it,鈥� she says. 鈥淧eople will really stay involved.鈥�
Clearly, that starts at the top.