SUPPORTING THE NEXUS
Ari Brose '84
What did Ari Brose ’84 love most about being a student at Barnard? Intellectually, she reveled in the challenges posed by rigorous courses in European history and a perfectionist academic advisor. Beyond academics, she enjoyed the strong sense of sisterhood she felt with the young women who joined her in sports, song and student government.
On urban campuses, students tend to appreciate their cosmopolitan setting while bemoaning the lack of an internal campus community. Brose, on the other hand, found and fostered community at Barnard by participating in a variety of collective pursuits. She competed in varsity athletics and became captain of the cross-country and the track-and-field teams. She listened for classmates who shared her harmonic talent, and founded the a capella group Bacchantae. She gave voice to common student concerns, and participated in SGA.
At the same time, she regretted that no Barnard building offered a bright, sizable gathering space. “Not to denigrate McIntosh — with Java City, it’s more welcoming now — but we didn’t feel there was a place for students to congregate,” she says.
Today Brose is an expert on the role a comfortable haven plays in people’s lives. She is a project manager at Fannie Mae, where she helps make it possible for people to buy their own homes.
At Barnard, where she has served as AABC president and alumna trustee, she is thrilled that the entire campus community will soon have a splendid new home. She talks enthusiastically about how the Nexus will provide performance venues and will encourage everyone to interact in one place. “This building will fill a hole for students,” she says. “And it will be a visible demonstration to anybody who drives along Broadway just how much Barnard cares about its students.”
Explaining her decision to be a Nexus donor, she says, “The sense of sisterhood I felt at Barnard was very important to me. It’s something I continue to look for in my professional life. The Nexus is a tribute to all those wonderful women who are Barnard students.”
— by Anne Schutzberger