Momentum Spring 2015

MOMENTUM

SPRING 2015

CELEBRATING PHIL ANTHROPY AT THE C OLLEGE OF CHARLEST ON

INSIDE :: Annual Giving:

By the Numbers

:: Mind of His Own :: Game Changer : : A Sustainable Future :: Giving on Faith COVER STORY A Sustainable Future: Q&A with Jenny Brennan ‘15

BY T HE N U M BERS Annual giving is the lifeblood of the College. From scholarships to undergraduate research and faculty support, annual giving funds support the College’s most pressing needs and annual priorities. They are a vital source of institutional momentum and make an immediate impact on campus. The 13 annual giving funds that support the College are: :: COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON FUND :: PARENTS’ FUND

12%

5%

FRIENDS

OTHER

4,219 Total Donors

23%

PARENTS

60% ALUMNI

:: DEANS’ EXCELLENCE FUNDS

- School of the Arts

- School of Business

- School of Education, Health, and Human Performance

- School of Humanities and Social Sciences

- School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs

- School of Sciences and Mathematics

- Graduate School, University of Charleston, S.C.

- Honors College

- College of Charleston Libraries

:: STUDENT AFFAIRS EXCELLENCE FUND :: COUGAR CLUB 2 MOMENTUM SPRING 2014 2015

TOP 4 MAJORS

of CofC Fund Scholarship Recipients • Biology • Political Science • International Studies • English

2 014 A N N UAL GIVING FUND S SNAPSHO T

$2.3

MILLION

TOTAL CASH RECEIVED

$980 K

COFC FUND AND PARENTS’ FUND

10%

32%

FIRST GENERATION

OUT-OF-STATE

244 CofC Fund Scholars

$820 K COUGAR CLUB

$500 K

10 SCHOOL-BASED AND UNIT FUNDS

PARENTS CONTRIBUTE OVER

50% of the total raised for CofC Fund/Parents’ Fund.

68%

IN-STATE

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GIFT PROFILE

MIND OF HIS OWN Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi ‘15 Marino Mugayar-Baldocchi was humbled by the opportunity to travel to Long Beach, Calif., to present his research on anchoring autobiographical memories at conferences for the Psychonomic Society and the Society for Judgment and Decision Making. Marino received funding to attend the international conferences from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences’ Dean’s Excellence Fund.

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Marino, an international student, was born in Brazil, but spent eight years in Australia. The graduating senior is a psychology major and will be attending graduate school in New York City for a Ph.D. in industrial/organizational psychology with a concentration in positive psychology. He was also a Weingarten International Scholarship recipient.

Below is his blog entry from the conferences: The experience of attending these conferences affected me on a personal, professional and social level. Personally, the opportunity to attend a conference where I was one of the youngest people allowed me to discover the hybrid world of adulthood. I saw some of the most brilliant scholars in the field. I was able to reflect deeply on what it means to me to be accomplished in the field and what kind of person I want to be. I had the opportunity to talk to those scholars and Ph.D. students about what made their life meaningful, what they are striving to achieve and what they thought of the conference experience.

Every student needs to be exposed to people in their field. The value of meeting young professionals and seasoned veterans cannot be overstated. You are able to see the people behind the academic role and you are able to better appreciate the research and the complexities of the questions being explored. I always knew the value of the mentorship I received from Department of Psychology professors, Dr. Daniel Greenberg and Dr. Anthony Bishara, over the last year and a half. Yet, the jump between knowing this in theory and seeing the fruits of their academic and professional nurturance was made at these conferences. I explained our research to experts in the field who asked important and very specific questions. I spoke with other students who were starting research in the same area, and all these experiences converged at a point of incredible value to my professional standing. I had never felt more prepared academically for a career in psychology or to pursue my education in graduate

school as I did during and after these conferences.

The level of conversation and the ideas exchanged, as well as the contacts, was brilliant and a magnificent experience for me.

I met students and faculty from NYU, UCLA, Cambridge, Oxford, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia and other places from all over the U.S. and the world while presenting my research and attending the networking events. I made so many important connections there, with people who are established in the field and Ph.D. students full of groundbreaking ideas.

Attending those conferences brought a new kind of perspective to me, and it reassured me, beyond any reasonable doubt, of the benefits of hard work. I dedicated over a year of my life to that research and I devoted myself academically at the College of Charleston since I began my undergraduate career. I had, over the course of three brief days, all the recompense for my efforts and unwavering pursuit. This is an experience I will never forget and, most of all, I will never forget those individuals and departments at my beloved College of Charleston who believed in me and funded my travel. M For more examples about the impact of the Deans’ Excellence Funds, visit The College Today at bit.ly/1CMi6JL.

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STUDENT PROFILE

GAME CHANGER CLAIRE NEWMAN ‘16 Claire Newman understands the importance of giving it her all both on and off the soccer field. A key piece of the College of Charleston women’s soccer team, she has played nearly every minute of every game and is a dedicated student within the Honors College. She also is the recipient of an athletic scholarship made possible by the more than 800 alumni, friends and fans who contribute annually to the Cougar Club.

“This scholarship allowed me to be part of a team who has become my extended family. They support and accept everyone just as they are,” says the Greensboro, N.C., native, who strives to maintain a 4.0 GPA, while being a star defender.

Claire will graduate in spring 2016 with a teaching-certified degree in physical education. She plans to pursue her masters in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise physiology.

The daily support she receives from her classmates and professors has been the ultimate game changer. “Classes within the Honors College are small and challenging, and it’s very close knit,” she says. “The coaches don’t focus solely on game outcomes. They support my efforts off the field as I pursue different academic and service opportunities - which you don’t always see at this level.”

For example, Claire is analyzing the effects of kinetic learning tables on student-learning outcomes at a local elementary school. The CofC research team has replaced traditional learning tables and chairs with exercise equipment to understand how students learn when their heart rates are higher.

As she prepares to enter her senior year, she continues to help younger student athletes build friendships through community service projects. She is the co-founder of a Christian athletic group called Athletes in Action, and she has served as the president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee since her sophomore year.

Meanwhile her game keeps improving. “You think once you are a junior or senior player you can’t really improve, but I see my skills getting better every year. It’s been a true blessing to be a part of the College,” she says. “I am grateful for these opportunities every day.” M To learn more about Cougar Club membership and upcoming events, visit cofccougarclub.com.

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A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE Jenny Brennan ’15 Scholarships change lives at the College of Charleston.

Every year, annual donors provide more than 240 students with scholarship support through the College of Charleston Fund.

Meet Jenny Brennan, a College of Charleston Fund and Parents’ Fund scholarship recipient from Moncks Corner, S.C. A geology major with an environmental geology concentration and a communication minor, Jenny graduated in May. What did scholarship support mean to you?

Applying to the College in 2010 during the heart of the recession, I knew I would have to take out multiple student loans to pay for college. The same day I received my acceptance letter, I received the scholarship letter from the CofC Fund due to my academic merits. Between my Palmetto Fellows scholarship and my CofC Fund scholarship, I was able to attend the College.

What surprised you about the College?

The College has offered me one of the most interactive learning experiences I could have hoped for. This is best seen 8 MOMENTUM SPRING 2015

IMPACT PROFILE through my geology courses. Many of my classes have included field elements around Charleston. I’ve tested the water quality in Colonial Lake, studied freshwater/saltwater interactions at Dixie Plantation, waded the headwaters of a Cooper River tributary, just to name a few of the experiences. It’s one thing to learn about wetland hydrology in the classroom, but when you’re immersed in that system and can see the processes, it leads to a whole new level of understanding. I think that undergraduate research is one of the many ways that the College of Charleston stands out.

I was also amazed by the close relationships I formed with many of the geology professors. The independent research project I worked on for more than two years with Dr. Vijay Vulava, entitled “Sorption and Transport of Triclosan in Natural Soils,” was presented last year at the Southeastern Conference for the Geological Society of America. The project is researching how an organic pollutant in the environment travels through soil, water and environments in general. The organic pollutant, which is used in many antibacterial related products, is actually aquatically toxic.

What experiences have you had outside the classroom?

Since 2013, I’ve been a full-time intern in the summer and a part-time intern during the school year in the environmental department at Nucor Steel Berkley in Mount Pleasant. I dealt with waste management and different environmental compliance inspections as well as various industrial safety audits and environmental audits. I also worked with CofC’s Office of Sustainability, where I served as the executive chair of the 9 MOMENTUM SPRING 2015

ECOllective Student Project Committee. The committee is a group of students who deal with student grant funding for sustainability projects on campus.

In my free time, I worked with kids in grade school and help educate them on environmental science. I was also a judge for the Kids Who Care competition in February, where kids at schools in Berkeley County work on a project related to environmental science and present it.

What’s next for you?

I will be attending Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment for their Master of Environmental Management program - just to note, my interactive learning experiences here at CofC were essential in my acceptance to the program. This program will allow me to build upon my scientific background and also be introduced to policy and engineering in water resources management.

If I hadn’t been able to come to CofC, I probably wouldn’t be entering the field I truly love and want to work in for the rest of my life. I see sustainability as a way to ensure the future of humanity as well as the environment, and I hope to help save the world however I can. M To learn more about College of Charleston Fund and its impact on our students, visit boundless.cofc.edu.

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DONOR PROFILE

GIVING ON FAITH Jeff Kinard ‘77 As our BOUNDLESS comprehensive campaign went public, I knew it was time for me to commit and make a significant gift to the College. I saw the best use, the most agile and flexible use, of my gift was the College of Charleston Fund. It is managed for the betterment of the entire College. Further, the College of Charleston Fund is the fund chosen by the Alumni Association and its board. After making that decision, I was hoping to make a gift that had some leverage and impact with new donors. Enter March Matchness.

March Matchness was a month-long campaign to inspire young alumni donors to give to the College of Charleston Fund. I would put up $20,000 to the College of Charleston Fund if 126 young alumni donors made their first gift to the College through the CofC Fund. I truly believe young alumni represent the future of the growth and support of the College, especially in giving. However, at that age, it is also the hardest time for alumni to participate. There are so many distractions at that age – your life is taking shape, your career is taking off, you’re starting a family - it’s easy to put the College at a lower priority.

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March Matchness was a way to grab their attention and build momentum because gifts that start now go forward and keep going.

We filled NCAA basketball brackets with donors’ names, gave away T-shirts, and Clyde and I made a basketball shoot-off video. It had been 30 years since I had touched a basketball, but with a little luck (and skillful editing), I made every shot. The whole process was a lot of fun. More importantly, in the end, 265 young alumni stepped forward and I am grateful and proud of each one of them.

We are very fortunate that the College has lots of non-alumni friends contributing and supporting the school. The time is now for us, the alumni, to take the lead – to be the leading group of donors at the College. We’re the ones who benefited from the College, and it’s our time to give our time, effort and money and be the leaders of this College. This is our alma mater. Let’s show the way. M To watch the March Matchness video, visit the College YouTube channel at youtube.com/watch?v=ZI7kc9uA57g.

Donors filled up NCAA style brackets on the March Matchness website at MarchMatchness.cofc.edu.

At the College, our students believe that service is an important part of the academic experience.

Case in point: Clay Dustin, double major in mathematics and data science in the Honors College, who established Project Playground, a volunteer program connecting CofC students with local schoolchildren.

By being a part of BOUNDLESS, you’ll help us support the next generation of community activists – like Clay – and prove that giving back can be serious fun.

BOUNDLESS.COFC.EDU #boundlesscofc