At their annual holiday dinner, held this year on December 2, the Friends of Ithaca College presented President Peggy R. Williams with a check for $817,107 for the Campaign for Ithaca College: Making a World of Difference, having surpassed their $500,000 campaign goal by more than $300,000.
“This gift represents a tremendous commitment on the part of the Friends and each individual Friends member,” said Elayne Nicholas, director of special gifts at Ithaca College. “As the Friends organization enters its second half-century of support of the College, all of us who have been privileged to work with this group of local volunteers, alumni, faculty, and staff are most grateful for the strong bond between the College and the community.”
About 200 people attended the Friends dinner, including Friends and their guests as well as Friends scholarship recipients and their parents. Since its founding in 1958, the Friends organization has raised scholarship funds for some 300 students from Tompkins County and the surrounding area to attend Ithaca College. Dinner guests were treated to musical performances by the Ithaca College Brass Choir, under the direction of associate professor and chair of music education Keith Kaiser; the Ithaca College Jazz Workshop, directed by professor of music performance Steve Brown ’64, M.M. ’68; and musical theater students appearing with IC accompanist and musical director Joel Gelpe.
The Friends wished President Williams well in her upcoming retirement from the College and awarded her a lifetime honorary membership in the group, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
https://www.ithaca.edu/intercom/article.php/20071205212158931