To our Nazareth supporters and friends,
Nazareth’s festive, two-year Centennial celebration came to a close last May, leaving us with a deep feeling of pride in our history, a high level of confidence in where we stand today, and a sense of excitement for what the future holds. Your active engagement coupled with your generous individual and collective support tells us you feel the same way.
Participation in Centennial activities provided everyone in the Nazareth family with opportunities to reflect, to remember, to learn, to honor, and to have fun. You may have shared a story in our oral history project or took in one of our Centennial summits. Perhaps you joined us for Naz Weekend 2024 and sampled our sweet “Nuts for Naz” and bespoke bourbon and beer. Or you attended the Centennial Jubilee and heard the stirring performance of alumnus Jack Allocco’s composition “One Hundred Strong” while honoring our Presidential Medallion of Excellence winners. Or maybe you made an on-line gift on Giving Day to recognize Nazareth’s first hundred years in your own quiet way. However you celebrated Nazareth’s Centennial, you helped make it a momentous milestone to remember.
Thanks to your giving spirit and some careful asset planning and management, Nazareth’s endowment topped the $100 million mark for the first time in the institution’s history. During a volatile time for higher education, hitting this mark, combined with earning a glowing reaccreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (good for eight years!), positions the University solidly as we look to the future. Find out more about the endowment and your gifts’ impact on page 5.
You can find an overview of Nazareth’s overall financial activities for 2024–2025 on the same page.
More and more of you joined our Changemaker Circle this past year thanks to your leadership, loyal, and legacy gifts. All three recognition societies now count well over 100 members bringing to a close our successful “100 for 100” campaign, launched in honor of Nazareth’s Centennial. Thank you for being such generous and loyal changemakers for our students!
Support for Athletics was robust this year as demonstrated by a variety of successful crowdfunding campaigns and a strong Giving Day turnout. Your generosity strengthened the Athletics program and its individual teams, and, in turn, enhanced the experiences of every Golden Flyer who put on a Naz uniform. Learn more on page 6.
As student need for financial assistance continued to soar this past year, many of you directed your giving to student financial aid or established or supported existing endowed scholarships or funds. We’re delighted to profile several of you in this report. I hope you all enjoy reading how providing access to a Nazareth education through scholarships can impact our students forever by setting them up for success in college and in their lives and work. Pages 4 and 7 of this report will reveal more about these generous folks.
All of us at Nazareth are deeply grateful for you and for the commitment to Nazareth and our students you demonstrated this past year. We look forward to continuing to advance Nazareth’s mission together as we enter Nazareth’s second century.
With gratitude,
Darrell Bell Vice President for Advancement
“I made a gift to the Nazareth Annual Fund. What does my gift really do?”
We get this question a lot. And it’s a good one. We’ll try to answer it here.
Tuition fees provide only 70% of what it costs to educate Nazareth students. The Nazareth Annual Fund helps close the gap by turning individual gifts of all sizes into one powerful source of support. Every annual fund gift helps the University stay flexible to meet the needs of students, faculty and campus programs where and when support is needed most.
Right now, Nazareth’s annual fund priority areas are:
• Student Financial Aid: Scholarships attract exceptional students and make attending Nazareth possible when financial need is at an all-time high.
• Student Life: Annual fund gifts help students thrive and stay at Naz with things that make campus feel like home – housing, wellness, community, and the moments that happen outside the classroom.
• Global Engagement: International experiences open minds, sharpen skills, and help students build resilience and confidence.
• President’s Fund for Emerging Needs: Supports new initiatives that promote Naz and its mission.
• Diversity & Inclusion Excellence: Helps faculty, staff, and students feel like they belong.
Here are just a few examples of how your annual fund gift might make a difference in our Nazareth community:
• $25: Helps student teachers buy supplies for their classroom.
• $100: Trains three faculty/staff members in mental health crisis response.
• $250: Buys one new CPU for the Esports Club.
• $500: Sends one musical theater senior to New York City for their senior showcase.
• $1000: Supports a financial aid scholarship for one student, helping keep a Nazareth education accessible.
• $1500: Provides a SPARK grant to help cover student costs for summer internships, research, and international experiences.
• $3000: Covers the cost of a three-credit-hour class for a Nazareth student.
Questions about the Naz Annual Fund?
Contact Amy Lyman, Director of Annual and Leadership Giving, at alyman3@naz.edu.
DONOR
SPOTLIGHT:
Terry Roy Dumas ‘75
Attending Nazareth was a life-changing opportunity for Terry. “I loved being at a small college where everyone was friendly and all of your professors knew you personally. I chose Nazareth because of the Junior year abroad program in Rennes, France. As a double major in French and English, I found the experiences my friends and I had living with families in France, speaking French daily, and traveling in Europe just amazing!”
Terry believes her Nazareth education prepared her well for her career, teaching English and French in the Brockport Central School District. She also acknowledges she would never have been able to attend Nazareth without financial aid. So, in 2017, while exploring her estate planning options, she decided to pay it forward and designate a portion of her estate to Nazareth for the express purpose of establishing a scholarship for French, English, Italian, or Spanish majors. In doing so, she took comfort in knowing that by helping provide the means for Romance language students to attend Nazareth, they might be able to experience transformative study abroad experiences just as she did.
Fast forward seven years…Terry and her husband of 49 years, St. John Fisher alumnus
Bob Dumas, decided to accelerate their giving and fund the scholarship right away, during their lifetime. “It makes us feel good to help others and to have the opportunity to repay my good fortune. I am happy to help students today.”
The Terry Roy Dumas ‘75 and Bob Dumas Scholarship was awarded for the first time this year.
Terry’s spirit of giving goes beyond her support for Nazareth and its students. She and Bob also serve their community as Cornell Master Gardeners. In this role, they are neighbors teaching neighbors about horticulture and environmentally sound gardening practices while providing the public with educational programs and activities. Like the University’s founders and so many Nazareth family members, they have discovered a way to serve their community that holds great meaning for them.
We recognize and are deeply grateful for alumni and friends like Terry and Bob, whose generosity and desire to give back make such a difference. One look at their own beautiful gardens (which have been featured in several charity garden shows) demonstrates that their green thumbs can stand up with the best of them! Through their scholarship, they’re now eager to help nurture, to their fullest potential, future generations of Nazareth students, too.
Terry Roy Dumas ‘75
2024–2025 ATHLETICS NEWS AND GIVING
2024–2025 was a good year to be a Golden Flyer! Among Nazareth’s student-athletes’ notable accomplishments:
• The women’s hockey team won its 4th-straight UCHC Conference title.
The Golden Flyers won their first-ever NCAA Tournament game and advanced to the quarterfinals.
• Nazareth hosted the 2025 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships, with over 650 top-tier athletes from around the country descending on the Golisano Training Center! Nazareth’s Lea Richard finished 9th in the weight throw and Isabel Morse was 12th in the pole vault, both earning second team All-American honors.
Bittersweet milestones last year:
• Jaylen Savage (men’s basketball) and Amy Laskowski (women’s hockey) were both up for Division III National Player of the Year in their respective sports.
• Freshman third baseman Kaijah Alexander was named a Third Team All-American, the first-ever All-American in Naz women’s softball history.
• Sophomore Riley Keiffer competed at the equestrian IHSA Nationals in North Carolina.
• Cal Wickens retired as head coach of the men’s volleyball program following 21 seasons leading the way behind the men’s and women’s benches. He’s moved into a volunteer assistant coaching role at Naz this year.
• George Roll, the men’s hockey coach since the program’s inception in 2012, made the ‘24-‘25 season his last with Naz, passing on the head coach duties to James McDonald ‘20, an alum of the hockey program and an assistant coach for the team since graduation.
Philanthropic support also scored high this past year as many of you stepped up to support Nazareth Athletics and its various programs:
• The Athletics Golf Classic kicked off Naz Weekend 2024. An eagerly anticipated annual fundraiser, the tournament united Naz Athletics alumni, friends, and corporate partners for a day of golf, philanthropy and fun. Celebrating its 21st year, the event sold out, netting $25,711.80 through sponsorships and registration fees.
• Crowdfunding made great strides in its second year, as Wingspan, Nazareth’s crowdfunding platform, hosted a variety of on-line fundraisers benefitting 17 sports teams, clubs and other athletics initiatives. By the end of the academic year, more than 500 Golden Flyer fans showed their commitment to athletics excellence at Naz, contributing $127,770 to sports programs that held meaning for them and, in turn, empowering our student-athletes to soar in their competitions, classrooms and community.
• And on April 8, Athletics donors delivered a resounding show of support during the University’s eighth annual Naz Giving Day. It proved to be a record-breaker for overall Giving Day contributions, and leading the way were 1,130 supporters of Naz Athletics and its various teams and programs, who collectively demonstrated their loyalty and generosity with $67,337 in gifts.
Thanks and high fives to all who supported Nazareth Athletics in 2024-2025. We’re grateful and honored to have you on team Naz. Go Flyers!
Amy Laskowski
Cal Wickens
George Roll
Jaylen Savage
GIVING DAY 2025
Nazareth held its 8th annual Giving Day on April 8, 2025, successfully meeting or surpassing goals for both donors and dollars. Thanks to you, the total dollars raised (including challenge and match gifts secured before Giving Day) was a record-breaking $640,540 – the highest amount ever raised on any Naz Giving Day!
On campus, the philanthropic spirit soared as hundreds of students, faculty and staff gathered in the Shults Center for the Giving Day party. Paying homage to several Nazareth traditions, attendees created their own bouquets at a flower bar, honoring the daisy chains of yore that “little sister” students would make for their “big sister” graduating senior classmates. A cornhole tournament saw teams of students challenge Naz leaders President Beth Paul; Associate Provost of Student Experience/Dean of Students Kim Harvey; Vice President for Advancement Darrell Bell; and Clinical Associate Professor (and double alum) Bryan Adams, calling back to the Marathon Men fundraiser softball tournaments of the 1980s. And in the midst of all the food and fun, many attendees made gifts on-site, contributing to the day’s overall success.
Thanks to all who chose to give on this special day!
Total gifts rec’d.: 1500
Total dollars rec’d.: $640,540
Total challenge/match gifts rec’d.: $457,000
New donations rec’d.: $183,540
PROFILE: LEGACY FAMILY, LEGACY GIFT
Nazareth is home to many legacy families—multiple generations who have attended or graduated from the University—and their shared experiences and appreciation for their Nazareth education create lasting, meaningful connections with both the institution and one another.
Once such legacy family at Nazareth is the Miles family — all prepared (or in training) for careers in education. We caught up with two family members — Kathy Miles ’64, ‘76G and Jenn Miles Dolce ‘97G — to learn a little about how their family came into teaching and how they channeled their love for a beloved family member into an endowed fund that supports future teachers.
NU: There are three generations of Miles family members who attended or currently attend Nazareth – all in the School of Education. Kathy and Jenn, can you please tell us a little about yourselves and your connections with Nazareth and the field of teaching.
KM: “I always wanted to be a teacher. So when I went to Nazareth University [as an undergrad], I majored in History Education. I had Dr. [Mary T.] Bush who continued to pique my interest in becoming a history teacher. She was truly an amazing teacher, and I established a lifelong friendship with her.”
JMD: “[After earning my bachelor’s in elementary English at Niagara,] choosing Nazareth for my master’s degree was an easy decision. The program, the integrity of the institution, and the closeness to home made it the perfect choice.”
KM: “And now her son, Finn Dolce, is going to Nazareth, studying to be a teacher!”
NU: There’s another family member—Jim—who’s not a Naz alumnus, but still an integral part of this legacy. Can you share with us a bit about your late husband and father.
KM: “After graduation I was awarded a Ford Foundation Scholarship to the University of Rochester, after which I began my teaching career at Pittsford Sutherland High School.”
“I met my husband, Jim Miles, at the U of R library. He was there getting his master’s to teach. After that he got a job teaching business at Pittsford.”
JMD: “[My father] was known to give of himself and his time to all his students, colleagues, and especially new teachers.”
NU: Kathy, last year you generously established an endowed fund in Jim’s memory that helps Nazareth Education students with miscellaneous expenses they incur during their student teaching. Tell us about that.
KM: “When my husband passed, I knew the best way to honor him was to establish a scholarship fund for student teachers. [Though not a graduate of Nazareth himself,] he taught several courses over the years at Naz and truly valued teaching and Nazareth. It gives me great joy to know his legacy will live on in Education at Nazareth.”
JMD: “Establishing this award in my father’s name would make him extremely proud. This award continues to support future educators as if my father were still here. I cannot think of a better way to honor him, his dedication, and my family of teachers.”
NU: If you had a family slogan, what would it be?
KM: “Our family slogan is ‘Teaching is our Family Business.’”
NU: And now with the James E. Miles Award for Future Teachers, your family business is helping prepare the next generation of Naz students for careers in the field that holds such meaning for your family. Thank you for honoring Jim in such a meaningful way and for sharing your legacy story with us today!
THE IMPACT YOU MAKE
“You’ve made education more accessible and it has led me to so many incredible opportunities. You have made Nazareth feel like a home for me.”— Trinity H. ‘29
“Thank you so much for supporting Nazareth! I love being a part of the community that exists because of your kindness.”— Addyson M. ‘27
“As a BIPOC first-generation student, your support has opened doors for me that I never thought possible.”
— Nitze C. ‘26
“Thank you [for supporting SPARK]. I used the SPARK grant to study abroad in Cambodia, a trip that changed my life and perspective of the world.”
— David T. ‘27
“…Thanks to you, we have more opportunities to learn, grow, and reach our goals. It’s people like you who make a real difference in our lives.”— Mitchell M. ‘27
“…this [donor-funded] scholarship means more than financial support. It represents hope and encouragement. It reminds me that there are people who believe in me and in the power of compassion to change lives.”— Carla C. ‘26
Bottom row from left: Kathy and Jim Miles Top row center: Finn Dolce and Jenn Dolce, flanked by other Miles family members