American Magazine November 2013

giving
GIFTS TO THE UNIVERSITY create a legacy of philanthropy
that changes the life of our institution forever.
The gleaming new Cassell Hall opened its doors at the beginning
of this semester to its first group of residents. Alumni who come
to campus will be surprised, if not shocked, to see it there. It used
to be a parking lot, and now there’s an eight-story building that
will change lives for generations of AU students to come.
Cassell Hall is important because it’s the first residence hall at AU
named for philanthropy. It provides a resource that was badly
needed, but it also gives a lot of joy to the donor. To me, working
with people who give is about enabling their joy in giving. That’s
what we want philanthropy to be—joyful giving.
Other great philanthropic legacies at AU include the Kogod
School of Business, Katzen Arts Center, Kay Spiritual Life Center,
Greenberg Theatre, spaces named by the Abramson family, and
the Susan Carmel Lehrman Chair of Russian History and Culture.
BY LIMITING TUITION increases
and increasing financial aid for the
next two years, AU is working to help
students reduce debt levels. Donorfunded
scholarships support hundreds
of students each year.
THIS FALL, 80 new faculty members
joined the ranks of AU’s world-class
scholars, including 23 tenured or tenuretrack
professors. The new lineup
includes number-crunching economists,
neuroscientists, video game designers,
and a museum curator.
Higher education
in America was
created to provide
opportunity, and
that opportunity
continues in
every gift.
There are other ways to create a legacy. Higher education
in America was created to provide opportunity, and that
opportunity continues in every gift. Gifts in support of
scholarships enable students to come to AU who otherwise
might not be in school anywhere. Our excellent student-faculty
ratio means that all students are affected personally by our
faculty. That makes the legacy of philanthropy through
investment in faculty significant and lasting.
Faculty are the skeleton of the institution—they hold the meat
on the bones. To attract and retain the best and the brightest
scholars in all the disciplines, we need support for faculty. That
assures that we have brilliant people who spend the balance of
their careers here.
We know that the best donors are engaged in multiple aspects of
the institution’s life, and we also know that the best volunteers
are also donors. So it’s important for us to have our alumni step
up and participate in giving at whatever level they can.
No matter how much you give, you are contributing to a legacy
built by a community of Eagles.
OUR STUDENT-ATHLETES
RETURNED to campus to find
updated locker rooms and dedicated
space for each sport. Cassell Hall,
with its Stafford H. Cassell Jr. Fitness
Center, provides an unsurpassed living
environment and doubles the campus’s
fitness center space.
JEFFREY HARRIS JOINED
KOGOD’S FACULTY this fall as a
tenured professor. His position, the Gary
D. Cohn Goldman Sachs Chair in Finance,
was created through the generosity of
Cohn, Kogod/BSBA ’82, and Goldman
Sachs, where Cohn is president and COO.
AU’S AMBITIOUS CAMPUS
PLAN guides the university’s growth
over the next decade. In addition to
Cassell and Nebraska Halls, it includes
the renovation of the historic McKinley
Building, a new home for WAMU, and the
relocation of the Washington College of
Law to the Tenley Campus.
Sincerely,
Thomas J. Minar, PhD
Vice President of Development and Alumni Relations
A NEW EAST CAMPUS, including
three residence halls, administrative
offices, and a welcome center, will rise
across from main campus, on the corner
of Nebraska and New Mexico Avenues.
AU will break ground in summer 2014.
ILLUSTRATION BY BRUCE MORSER
38 AMERICAN MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2013
AMERICAN.EDU/ALUMNI 39