5 minute read
Guilfordians Step Up in Time of Need
It hardly seemed the perfect storm for fundraising success: An institutional budgetary crisis complicated by a pandemic and ensuing economic uncertainty. Indeed, Guilfordians could have been excused if they wondered if the College had not only lost its financial footing, but its very edge.
Turns out that way of thinking was never really an option.
Bolstered by an enthusiastic response to the Guilford Forward Fund, Guilford set a second straight record for giving in a year outside a capital campaign. The $8.8 million given and pledged prior to the end of fiscal year 2021 (May 31) smashed 2020’s record effort by about $400,000.
More than 3,100 benefactors contributed 5,704 gifts, with two giving days each producing a significant response. Giving Tuesday in December generated $200,000 in cash and pledges. Aided by a $125,000 match incentive from Pete Keane ’82, April’s Day for Guilford brought in $1 million, about $700,000 more than a similar one-day campaign in April 2020.
Guilford Forward Leads the Way
Launched as an alternative plan to address the College’s financial concerns while avoiding academic programming and faculty cuts, the $6 million Guilford Forward Fund kicked off in January under the guidance of the Fundraising Challenge Team. Through August, $4,771,760 had been pledged to the fund which is being applied to the fiscal year 2022 operating budget.
The Guilford Forward Fund campaign ends January 31. Tasked with leading the College’s fundraising effort since his appointment in July, Interim Vice President for Advancement Gordon Soenksen is confident the College will meet or surpass the $6 million goal. “I’ve heard from so many alumni and parents of alumni and friends of the school,” Soenksen said. “The confidence level has grown every day as I listen to each person’s story and commitment. All of them want to support a college we love so much.”
As Guilford College Magazine went to press, 49 Guilfordians had contributed more than $25,000 each to the Guilford Forward Fund. Seventeen gifts of at least $100,000 have been made, including several significant pledges in May.
Board of Trustee Dan and Beth Mosca of Brown Summit, N.C., are the parents of two Guilford graduates and the grandparents of a current student. They made a $250,000 match-incentive gift in May. Molly Gochman ’01, an experiential artist and activist who created the Red Sand Project, pledged $200,000. Gifts from Save Guilford College ($250,000) and community partner the Weaver Foundation of Greensboro ($100,000) helped push the fund past its May 31 goal of $4.5 million.
FUNDRAISING BY THE NUMBERS $8.8M
G I L U FORD FORWARD F U ND $4.7M
(as of September 8)
Giving Days $200K $1M
Giving Tuesday (December 2020) April's Day for Guilford (2021)
Zopf Gazebo Becomes a Reality
Paul Zopf retired nearly 30 years ago, but the Charles A. Dana Professor of Sociology & Anthropology Emeritus remains a cherished part of the Guilford community. Still living on George White Road next to the campus, Zopf made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of students and colleagues during a career at Guilford that started in 1959. Known as a challenging yet
RETIRED PROFESSOR PAUL ZOPF WILL HAVE THE GAZEBO AT FOUNDERS HALL (ABOVE) NAMED AFTER HE AND HIS LATE WIFE, EVELYN.
empathetic professor, Paul and his late wife Evelyn opened up their home to students and forged relationships that still burn brightly today.
Karen Reehling Blum ’72 of Grantham, N.H., is one of those former students. Blum and Zopf exchange handwritten letters on a frequent basis and meet in person for lunch in Greensboro twice each year. A member of the Fundraising Challenge Team, Blum thought a major gift to the Guilford Forward Fund was a fitting way to honor both Paul and Evelyn.
And thus was born the campaign to secure naming rights for the gazebo that was constructed in 2004 on the Founder’s Hall plaza.
A goal of $100,000 was established. Bill Pleasants ’65 of Jamestown, N.C., another former student of Zopf, worked with Blum as the primary fundraisers for the project. Pleasants and his wife Clarajo ’67 have been close to the Zopfs for nearly 60 years and still enjoy a meal or two each month with Paul. “The Guilford community is really built on these kinds of relationships,” says Bill Pleasants.
As of late summer, more than $130,000 had been raised for the Guilford Forward Fund in honor of the Zopfs. The Paul and Evelyn Zopf Gazebo will be dedicated this fall. Paul is also slated to receive the Charles C. Hendricks ’40 Distinguished Service Award as part of the annual Alumni Awards program.
Dedication Ceremonies
In addition to the Paul and Evelyn Zopf Gazebo, other significant projects are scheduled for dedication this academic year.
Classified as a “collaborative and critique” learning space, the Doug Page ’88 and Jamie Firth Collaborative Classroom in Hege-Cox Hall allows students to engage in multidisciplinary, team-based and project-based learning. Featuring mobile furniture that facilitates creative and immersive meeting areas, the classroom is equipped with cutting-edge AV technology and glass walls that can be used for designs and illustrations. The room is made possible by a $100,000 gift from High Point residents Page, a former Dana Scholar now retired after 26 years as the CFO of the Hospice of the Piedmont, and Firth, a Network Security Analyst with ITG Brands who also retired in 2020.
The Forbes Sports Center in the Physical Education Center is a multipurpose room that is available to all athletes and coaches for study halls, team meetings and socializing. Equipped with an overhead projection center and branded Guilford seating, it serves as a comfortable hub for student athletes. The room was made possible because of a generous $250,000 gift by Charles and Katherine Forbes. Charles Forbes, a member of the Guilford Athletics Hall of Fame, served as the Quakers’ football coach from 1976 to 1991, setting school marks for wins and length of service.
Funded by an $800,000 grant from the Edward M. Armfield, Sr. Foundation of Greensboro, the Adair P. Armfield Gallery in Hege-Cox Art Building is also slated for dedication. The 2019 grant earmarked funds for improvements to Hege-Cox, as well as implementation of other aspects of the Guilford Edge. The Armfield Gallery showcases art by students and other talented artists.
The Armfield family has enjoyed a long shared history with Guilford. The late Edward M. Armfield, Sr.’s father, William Johnston Armfield, Jr., graduated from Guilford in 1894, and was a member of the school’s first football team. Edward’s Aunt Lucille Armfield is an 1894 graduate; she would go on to compose the school’s alumni song. The family also funded the construction of the Armfield Athletic Center and contributed generously to upgrades to the stadium during the 2000s.
