VOLUME 13, NO. 2     NOVEMBER 2000

Alumni check in with generous gifts

President Parrish and Pat Flaherty accept class gifts from, from top, Ed Sydor '50, Paul Bayliss '60 and John Fitzpatrick '75.

Among the highlights of Reunion 2000 were impressive anniversary gifts presented at the annual Awards Luncheon in Harrington Auditorium.

The Class of 1950's record-breaking 50th Reunion gift was presented by Gift Committee Chair Ed Sydor. A Power Point slide presentation, with computer-generated graphs, was shown to document the "50/50 Campaign." Sydor noted that although the committee lost its class president, the late Henry "Pete" Cummings, halfway through, it met its goal of surpassing previous records for size and participation. The class set out to raise an amount equal to the numerals 1950 -- plus a few zeros. As of Reunion day, it had reached $1,650,000 -- and had set a new participation record of 84 percent. The unrestricted portion of the gift has been designated to fund an endowed scholarship and a meeting room in the new campus center.

In recognition of its 40th Reunion, the Class of 1960's Gift Committee, chaired by Paul Bayliss, raised $1,508,159, with a 41 percent participation rate. An anonymous donor in the class agreed to match each dollar contributed by classmates. At the presentation, it was revealed that this donor was Paul Allaire, president and CEO of Xerox. In a joking reference to ongoing construction, Bayliss told President Parrish that the unrestricted portion of his class's gift was designated for "this hole behind us that you're calling the campus center."

Class of 1975 Gift Committee Chair John FitzPatrick presented a check for $181,641, from 32 percent of the class, in honor of its 25th Reunion. "A gift to WPI is clearly an investment of immeasurable return," he said. A portion of the gift was allocated to the Class of 1975 scholarship.

President Parrish also accepted a check for $1,648,775, representing the combined totals of gifts from the seven other Reunion classes. The Class of 1940's Gift Committee, chaired by Merrill Skeist, raised a 60th Reunion Gift of $784,526 -- more than twice as much as they raised for their 50th Reunion in 1990. The other Reunion gifts and their Gift Committee chairs were: Class of 1945, led by Franklin June, $374,594; Class of 1965, led by Bob Cahill, $162,219; Class of 1970, led by Len Polizzotto, $44,018; Class of 1980, led by co-chairs Cathy Reed and Ray Cronin, $123,526; Class of 1985, led by Sue Nerkowski, $70,446; Class of 1990, led by Mike Donahue, $89,445.

At the conclusion of the program, Alumni Funds Board Chair John Powers '60 asked the chairs and volunteers of all gift committees to stand and be recognized for all their hard work.