Barnard
annual awards dinner raises a record $1.112 million
for financial aid
NEW
YORK, N.Y. – Thanks to the generosity of donors,
the Barnard College Annual Awards Dinner raised
a record $1,112,150 in contributions to the College’s
financial aid program.
The
thirteenth annual dinner, held at the Grand Ballroom
of the Waldorf=Astoria, honored Sumner Redstone,
chairman and chief executive officer of Viacom,
with the Frederick A. P. Barnard Award, and Karen
Katen, executive vice president of Pfizer Pharmaceuticals
Group and president of U.S. Pharmaceuticals for
Pfizer Inc, with the Iphigene Ochs Sulzberger Award,
two of the College’s most prestigious awards.
The
dinner hit a new record after John Furth, a trustee
and one of five dinner chairmen for the event, told
the crowd that the dinner was the "second-most
successful" and challenged the audience to
break the record.
At
the close of the evening, Furth announced an additional
gift from a donor of $60,000 and challenged the
crowd again: "remember, records have no ceiling."
In
his acceptance speech, Redstone said, "We desperately
need places where students make the most of their
potential." He added that the recipients of the
scholarship would join an age-old struggle to make
the world a better place. "The forces of good and
evil are propelled by the actions of individual
human beings." (full
text of speech)
Katen, in her acceptance speech, said that Pfizer's
efforts to promote women's health around the world
through education might have been appreciated by
Sulzberger herself, in whose honor her award was
named (full
text of speech).
Barnard graduate Anna Quindlen '74, master of ceremonies,
told the crowd that Barnard helped her develop the
courage of her convictions. "Sometimes I feel what
I learned at Barnard was 'unafraid.' "
Students
Kate Delaney (text
of speech),
a junior, and Junea Williams (text
of speech),
both spoke to the crowd about their Barnard experiences
and what scholarships had meant to them.
Williams,
a senior history major who will be a first-year
student at the University of Pennsylvania School
of Law in the Fall, said "Barnard helps to foster
a sense of individuality, giving each woman the
freedom, outlets, and support to be who she chooses
to be." Williams, who was a student teacher in the
Bronx and Harlem as well as a leader in Student
Government, plans to combine a career combining
the law and education reform.
Judith
Shapiro, president of the College, reflecting on
the students' accomplishments said: "our students
are ambitious in the best sense of the term - for
themselves and their communities."
For
more about the dinner...
For
more information contact: Lucas Held, 212-854-7583
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