Joseph G. ’55 and William F. Brown Jr. ’44
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The Canisius Ambassadors for Conservation, Christianity and the Road Less Traveled, The American Indian Center at Canisius and the Institute for Autism Research represent only a few of the many programs developed through the Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professorship. The AllCollege Honors Program, the Golden Griffin Fund, the Urban Leadership Learning Community and the Rev. Vincent M. Cooke, S.J., Endowed Chair in Ethics are also supported through endowed gifts. But perhaps the greatest legacy of an endowed gift is that because it is a permanently invested fund, it yields returns for today’s most deserving students, as well as those of tomorrow. “An endowed scholarship is one of the most enduring ways an individual or organization can make a difference in the lives of Canisius students,” says Craig T. Chindemi, vice president for institutional advancement. “An endowment is not just for one year or even one generation. Endowment gifts are forever.”
C A N I SI US F U N D If endowed gifts secure future excellence for an institution, then annual giving campaigns ensure excellence today. Both are equally vital to the life of the college but in different ways. Gifts to the Canisius Fund – large and small – all add up to critical financial support for college operations and expenditures during a fiscal year. For these reasons, annual giving was a campaign priority, and donors responded in kind. The Canisius Fund secured $21.9 million throughout A Legacy of Leadership and set some record-breaking numbers: The average gift increased nearly 50 percent over the course of the campaign, from $280 to $419. The Canisius Fund also raised $2.7 million during the annual campaign that just concluded May 31. It’s the largest amount ever secured during a Canisius Fund initiative.
Other contributors to the Canisius Fund success: a $1 million gift, from the Canisius Jesuit Community, which served as challenge grant to alumni. The Your Gift, Your Choice program bolstered the Canisius Fund campaign to even greater heights in more recent years. Launched in 2010, Your Gift, Your Choice enables donors to designate their gifts to the areas most important to them. Some people direct their Canisius Fund gifts to student aid. This helps fill classrooms with bright young minds. Others designate their Canisius Fund donations to athletics. Such resources help build a winning athletics program. Others allocate their Canisius Fund gifts to the John J. Hurley ’78 Presidential Discretionary Fund. This enables Canisius to seize any unexpected academic opportunities and initiatives, which inevitably arise throughout the year.
milestones ON M A I N S T R E E T The legacy of Canisius College’s first 100 years on Main Street is marked by
And while Canisius Fund gifts make an immediate impact on the institution in a given year, there are lasting benefits as well.
educational excellence, great tradition and ambition, and defining developments that shaped the institution to what it is today. Canisius will evolve and expand
“When individuals make gifts to areas of personal interest, Canisius is able to engage them in the life of the college in more meaningful ways,” says Craig Chindemi. Maybe it’s an invitation to a campus lecture or concert, or maybe a donor can share his or her expertise as a guest speaker in a classroom or on an advisory council. “When alumni become more engaged, the legacy that is Canisius endures.”
on these foundations in infinite ways over the next 100 years. But for now, Canisius Magazine takes a look back at some of the college’s most memorable milestones during its first century at 2001 Main Street.
W H AT ’ S N E X T Higher education folks share a common quip about fundraising: They say you’re either in a campaign or you’re planning the next one. Here at Canisius, the team will take a bit of a breather to soak up and celebrate the most successful fundraising initiative in the college’s history. We invite you to join us. Afterall, A Legacy of Leadership is a point of pride for everyone connected to Canisius. Its achievement reaffirms all that the college stands for in the lives of its students, alumni and friends, and the important role it plays within the Western New York community. The campaign’s successful conclusion also coincides with the start of an exhilarating new era at 2001 Main Street; one which will see new scientific discoveries, new and diverse scholars, new centers for collaborative and casual learning – and even a new look (watch for it in the fall 2012 issue of Canisius Magazine).
Author/professor Charles Brady names Canisius athletes the Golden Griffins. The college at 2001 Main Street is dedicated. Villa Stadium opens with a 10,000 seat capacity.
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The best is yet to come at Canisius. We hope you’ll join us! Canisius Dramatics Club performs The Passion Play to 80,000 people.
Canisius builds The Villa, a gymnasium and field house.
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