Campus community celebrates donor generosity

Donor support of Binghamton University is growing, and that generosity does not go unnoticed.

From July through September, Binghamton’s Division of Advancement hosted three dedications and a naming celebration to recognize donors who made significant gifts to advance the University.

Faculty, staff and students at the events could meet the donors and thank them in person for their giving. In addition, the donors shared the stories behind their support and had opportunities to see firsthand the people and places on campus that will benefit from their generosity.

• The Ben G. VanDerLinde ’84 Memorial Concourse dedication was July 8 in the Events Center. VanDerLinde was a loyal supporter of Binghamton athletics. He died last year after a long battle with cancer. His wife, Tina, wanted to carry on his legacy. The impact of her support includes new furnishings for a sitting area on the concourse where student-athletes can study, meet up and relax. Her giving also will fund a new Ben G. VanDerLinde ’84 Memorial Bearcat speaker series.
• An event Sept. 4 in the Benet Alumni Lounge of Old O’Connor Hall celebrated the naming of the Ellyn Uram Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls. During her visit to campus, Ellyn Uram Kaschak ’65 sat in, and weighed in, during classes and in meetings with faculty and administrators.
• The Jeffrey S. Beck and Lisa C. Beck Laboratory dedication was Sept. 6 in the Smart Energy Building lobby of the Innovative Technologies Complex. In 2014, Lisa C. Beck established the Jeffrey S. Beck Summer Research Grant in memory of her husband, Jeffrey S. Beck ’84, a renowned scientist and engineer. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Binghamton. Lisa C. Beck has said his undergraduate experience “is really what started everything.” In 2017, she made another major gift commitment to support the Chemistry Department, expanding the criteria of the summer research grant to include support for a full-time chemistry graduate student.
• The Koenig Family Hallway dedication was Sept. 20 during Homecoming. The event, in the Harpur Edge office, honored Stuart Koenig ’73 and his wife, Bonnie Fox, for their contributions to support Binghamton and, in particular, Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. The Koenig Family Hallway connects the Glenn G. Bartle Library tower to the lobby of Bartle Library. Koenig and Fox have supported Harpur Edge, the Binghamton Fund and a variety of high-impact learning opportunities for students, such as research experiences and travel abroad to complete volunteer service projects in healthcare.
• Thanks to a generous gift and continued support from Roger Mills Gilbert ’76, the Office of Communications and Marketing, and specifically, Media and Public Relations, will soon have cutting-edge, live technology on campus. A gift from Gilbert is supporting a studio upgrade that will include a turnkey, high-definition video system. The facility will be used to facilitate live or recorded interviews of a single guest with any television network in the world without the need for on-site technicians. Feeds can also be sent to Content Distribution Networks for webcasting and to various social media platforms such as Facebook for live video broadcasts. This project is significant and aligns with the belief that the great achievements of our students, faculty and staff should be celebrated and shared with the world.