Cla ss
N otes
Oswego
Matters By Executive Director Betsy Oberst
Inspiring Horizons was so much more than just raising money for worthwhile projects here at SUNY Oswego. It created wonderful opportunities to enhance our profile and increase the engagement, spirit, energy, pride and excitement of our 72,000 alumni! Some of the campaign highlights included more than 200 regional alumni events — from the United Nations in New York City to California to Florida and points in between. During the campaign, we also launched many new initiatives that sparked alumni excitement and pride. One of the most visible examples of that spirit and pride was our Oswego Family Portrait, at the public launch of the campaign in 2005 as 1,500 students, faculty and alumni spelled out “Oswego” on a picture-perfect September day. We launched our NYC Career Connections program in 2003. Last January it connected 50 alumni with close to 200 students for career exploration and networking. We hosted our largest Reunion Weekend ever in 2008 with more than 1,100 attendees — what excitement, pride and energy! We engaged more than 250 alumni by bringing them back into the classroom through the Alumni-in-Residence program. We re-established — and have since tripled — our senior class gift program as a way to build a culture of philanthropy and engagement of current students. The first gift of the re-established program was the 9/11 Memorial to honor and remember our alumni lost on that day. We began our GOLD (Graduates Of the Last Decade) program as a way to better connect and serve our recent grads. We launched OsweGoConnect, our online alumni community and Lake E-ffect, our popular monthly e-newsletter during the campaign. These initiatives serve as points of pride and engagement, and show the wonderful spirit of our Oswego Alumni Family. It is exciting to contemplate what lies ahead as we look for new and better ways to keep alumni connected and involved. I look forward to working with all of you as we plan to celebrate 150 years of Oswego pride at our college’s Sesquicentennial in 2011. A special thanks to all of you from all of us as you continue to make Oswego shine — both here on campus through your philanthropy and your service, and in your own communities!
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Oswego
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Winter 2009