Investing in the brightest
Attorney and
philanthropist Thomas N. Bantivoglio brought Rowan’s
fundraising campaign to a fittingly exciting end with his $1 million
gift for the university’s Honors Program. Announcing his gift
at the university’s convocation in September, Bantivoglio joined
a select group of donors who chose to invest in Rowan University
with gifts of more than $1 million.
A long-time partner in the law firm of Archer & Greiner, P.C.,
Bantivoglio has served as counsel for Delaware Valley businesses
and corporations for more than 50 years and is trustee of the William
G. Rohrer Charitable Foundation, through which he became interested
in supporting Rowan personally.
Money spent for and on students is
the underlying funding priority for Bantivoglio’s gift, according
to President Donald Farish.
“This
gift will help high-achieving students develop their gifts as thinkers,
researchers and leaders,” he said. “More students will
have opportunities for enhanced learning in Rowan classrooms and
laboratories and off campus in educational and professional settings.”
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The importance
of being ambitious
Raise $22 million in private donations for
a public university in the middle of a national economic downturn?
Nobody said it would be easy. And it wasn’t—but it
had to be done.
 e
knew it was an ambitious goal when we set it, but the realities of
public funding of higher education would either delay or derail our
plans to build a stronger and better university,” says Rowan
University’s chief fundraiser, Philip Tumminia
M’69. “We’ve
spent the last 20 years leading up to a major campaign for Rowan University.
Students, alumni, faculty and the whole South Jersey region needed
us to succeed because the results would benefit everyone.”
At the end of the Building Bridges to Opportunity campaign, results
and benefits are easy to identify.
Gifts to the campaign are providing for merit scholarships, student
research, expanded graduate programs, professorial chairs, endowments
and faculty development.
A walk through campus shows how the donations have made possible
improvements in existing facilities and construction of new buildings.
Some of the gifts are for projects being planned now, including the
bequest made by the late Sally Price Eynon ’66 and her husband,
James Eynon. Their donation is expected to provide a new wireless
audio-visual system in the Student Center Ballroom, among other multimedia
enhancements in Campbell Library that will benefit the campus community.
“Private donors have given to Rowan University because they
know their investments here will genuinely make a difference in people’s
lives,” said Dorothy Stubblebine ’80, Foundation
board member and Rowan University Alumni Association president. “Rowan
University links education at all levels and the South Jersey economy.
We’re grateful for so many wise and generous friends who know
that investing in the university pays returns indefinitely to everyone
in the region.”
While Rowan University Foundation leadership speaks of wise investors
supporting the University, it’s worth noting that across
the country, Americans gave at near-record levels last year, according
to the Giving USA Foundation. Ironically, though, of the 10 charitable
categories documented in the organization’s 2003 annual report,
only educational organizations and foundations saw a decline in
donations from 2002 to 2003.
President Donald Farish isn’t surprised at the irony of Rowan’s
fundraising success as other educational institutions lost support. “Rowan
has integrity in its history and mission. Alumni and friends of
the university know that their investment here will improve people’s
lives and contribute to the great value of a Rowan education,” Farish
said.
And while the numbers Rowan tallied are impressive, donors to the
campaign gave more than financial support, Farish said. “Each
gift was more than a check or a pledge—it was a vote of confidence
for Rowan University. Alumni gave to “give back” to
their alma mater. Employees gave to support the institution they
know and serve so well. Corporations and foundations gave to invest
in the future.”
The idea that the campaign would help build bridges to opportunity
was more than wishful thinking. “We knew what a significant
role the university has played in the lives of alumni,” Tumminia
said. “We believed that their own achievements would inspire
them to give in tribute to their alma mater and benefit the students
who follow in their footsteps.”
Jean McMenamin Edelman ’81 and her husband, Ric
Edelman ’80, made a $1 million gift to benefit the observatory and planetarium
opened (and named for the couple) in Science Hall last year. She
said it was a privilege and an honor to support the campus where
she was Student Government Association president. “Rowan
is a wonderful opportunity to discover who you are, thanks to the
caliber of its teachers, staff and students,” she reflected. “I
learned there that each of us can change the world, one day at
time.”
Amol Shah ’00 echoes that sense of promise
and possibility. “My
education truly did offer me a bridge that has led to opportunities
I would have never thought of—both personally and professionally
with my acceptance to grad school at Stanford,” he said. “Rowan
offered me the chance to explore opportunities for self development—communication
skills, leadership opportunities and so on. While I always expected
to receive a great engineering education, the personal growth I
have seen in myself was something I was definitely not expecting.”
From the faculty’s perspective, the campaign has broadened
and strengthened the academic experience, complementing what they
offer in their classrooms. English professor Nathan Carb speaks
enthusiastically of his former student, Robert
Norton ’60 and his thoughtfulness about the literary arts. “I taught
Bob Norton. He was an outstanding student. I’m grateful and
delighted that he remembered us this way. His gift has enabled
us to bring some of America’s most
prominent poets to campus [including America’s and New Jersey’s
poets laureate], otherwise we couldn’t afford to do it. Each
program has played to packed houses. English and creative writing
majors come, but also high school teachers bring their classes,
alumni come back and people from the community attend,” Carb
reports. “Each
program has been a wonderful, stimulating experience that invigorates
the academic community.”
In other disciplines, faculty and students speak of research funds,
scholarships and enhanced equipment in laboratories and computer
facilities. With endowments to the colleges through the Rowan University
Foundation, donors have created sources of perpetual support for
professorial chairs, including the John B. Campbell professorial
chair in the College of Business and the King Family Foundation’s
professorial chair in the College of Communication’s radio/TV/film
department.
Friends of the University also include corporations and foundations,
which have responded to the campaign’s requests to support
specific projects. One of them, the Annie E. Casey Foundation,
pledged $198,521 for the CamConnect and Making Connections projects
within the City of Camden, where Rowan University’s Camden
Campus has served the region for 35 years. Moving off-campus and
into the communities of the region, the Casey gift is an investment
made to help with policy making initiatives and improve the outcomes
for families and children in tough or isolated neighborhoods.
But exceeding our ambitious goal also raised the standard for
excellence for our students and faculty and raised the level
of effectiveness Rowan will have in its education and outreach
programs for years to come. For more information, visit the Rowan
University Foundation. 
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