News & Events

Last night, seven Philanthropy Seminar students passed their final with flying colors.

The team of sophomores and juniors, known as the Upstate Institute Student Philanthropy Council, had spent the past eight months under the guidance of Ellen Kraly, Upstate Institute director, and Kate Lucey, institute staff member, preparing to distribute $10,000 in grants to area nonprofits.

They gathered with faculty, friends, and community leaders in the Colgate Bookstore’s Class of 2003 Events Room to present four checks:

• $5,000 to the Utica-based Thea Bowman House Kids with Promise project, providing after-school programs and support for junior high and high school students who do not qualify for county Department of Social Services child care subsidies

• $2,200 to the Hamilton Food Cupboard, which will work with Madison’s Green Rabbit Farm to bring fresh fruits and vegetables to more than 100 families

• $1,800 to Utica’s Adult Learning Center, which will use photography to tell the story of refugees settling in central New York

• $1,000 to the Sherburne-Earlville School Community/School Connections for Literacy Success project, funding a traveling tutor and creating literacy bags with books, puppets, puzzles, crayons, clay, scissors, and paper for incoming kindergarten students

“With a little of the money, we hope to continue our field trips to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia,” said Sandra Wright, program director at the Thea Bowman House. “They’re educational trips but they’re also a lot of fun.”

Many thanks went to Jay Brennan ’81 and the Brennan Family Foundation for investing $50,000 in the project — enough for five seminars through 2011.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of serving on the council has been the opportunity to discover the great impact local organizations are making in our community,” said council member Emily Katz ’09 during the awards presentation. “And for many of us, the time has been a valuable first step toward careers in philanthropy.”

Students were accepted to the council only after an application process, coordinated by deans Raj Bellani and Kim Taylor of the Sophomore-Year Experience program.

The students sat in on a series of discussions throughout the fall semester arranged by Annual Fund Associate Director Sarah Gonzalez Bocinski and the Upstate Institute. Experts in the field of philanthropy covered topics from the art of the grant application review to the best practices of nonprofit administration.

Though the seminar is a non-credit course, the students received plenty of credit for their devotion to the process and their attention to detail. “By February, they turned to the faculty and staff and said, ‘Okay, you can go now!’,” said project consultant Kate Lucey.

The group of seven then organized its own site visits and held meetings at which members haggled over deserving nonprofit organizations, culling a list of 15 applicants down to the four grantees in attendance on Wednesday.

The Student Philanthropy Council is one of only a few hands-on seminars around the country that educate students in the nuances and implications of the grant-making process. Future classes at the university may be proposed as for-credit, adding an additional component: a review of outcomes based on past class awards.

Cassandra Galante '09 presents a $2,200 check to Sam Stradling, of the Hamilton Food Cupboard, Wednesday night at the Colgate Bookstore. (Photo by Kalli McMillan '10)