Photographs by Asiya Khaki
celebrates Dean of Studies Karen Blank, who recently retired after serving the Barnard and Columbia communities for 28 years, in roles that included dean of studies, chair of the faculty committee on programs and academic standing, and honor board advisor at Barnard. The fund has already piqued the interest of at least one young alumna. Emma Siesfeld ’10, who works for Teach For America in Massachusetts training special-education teachers, credits Dean Blank for encouraging her to take on leadership roles in student activities and to pursue her interest in studying economics. She recalls that the dean urged her to take classes outside her comfort zone. When Siesfeld learned about efforts to honor Dean Blank, she contacted President Spar, volunteering to engage young alumnae to build upon the scholarship, which was established last fall with a major gift from an anonymous donor. The Blank initiative, and others that follow, will no doubt benefit from the energy and tenacity of Caroline Spencer whose approach is to send out blast e-mails to everyone she knows as well as individual ones. Before the first Gala Nights in April 2012, Spencer recalls a case of nerves as she sat with fiancé, Tom Spanos, at the dinner that precedes the after-party. But, as the dinner was winding down, she began to hear the strains of the DJ’s music. And when she entered the party space, catered that year with an assortment of sweets from Dylan’s Candy Bar, it was “already packed with 20- and 30-year olds”— women as well as men, and Barnard alums as well as those without a direct affiliation. For Spencer and her peers, the gift of a Barnard education is not just a fresh and fond memory, but one whose benefits they are continuing to reap: “It’s a special community. You go there and you learn how to find your voice, how to take risks on a challenging campus, in a challenging city. It changed the direction of my life.”
Supporting Barnard The 2013 Annual Gala at New York’s Plaza Hotel benefiting the College’s financial aid program honored two families who received the Frederick A. P. Barnard Award: Connie Alexander Krueger ’53 and Harvey Krueger and the Krueger family, which includes several alumnae in addition to Connie; and Claire and Leonard Tow, Emily Tow Jackson ’88, and The Tow Foundation. Cheryl Glicker Milstein ’82 and Philip Milstein P ’14 and Nina Rennert Davidson ’95 and Mitchell Davidson cochaired an evening that raised close to $2.3 million for scholarship aid. Photos (read from left): 1 Barnard Board Chair Jolyne Caruso-FitzGerald ’81 and Gala Cochairs Cheryl Glicker Milstein ’82 and Nina Rennert Davidson ’95 with President Spar 2 Trustee Binta Niambi Brown ’95 with Dean of the College Avis Hinkson ’84 3 P. Roy and Diana Touliatou Vagelos ’55 4 Alison Estabrook ’74 5 Members of the Tow Family who were honored: Emily Tow Jackson ’88, Leonard and Claire Tow, and Emily’s daughter Hope 6 James Dow and Lucille Zanghi P ’10 7 Honorees Connie Alexander Krueger ’53 and Harvey Krueger with their family and friends: Deniz Dinler, Tiffany Silliman, Dr. Rachel Cohen ’03, her brother Alex Cohen, Connie Krueger, Arthur Bialer, Harvey Krueger, Peter Bialer, Cathy Krueger Cohen, Michael Bialer, Abigail Krueger Bialer ’85, and Pamela Alexander Schlenger ’57; missing are Hannah Bialer ’15 and great-niece Caroline Axelrod ’07. 1
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