04 Fall2.indd - CSUSB Magazine - California State University, San ...

C O N T R I B U T I O N SShelby and Charles ObershawThe Upper Commons dining areaat California State University, SanBernardino has a new name. It is nowknown as the Charles and ShelbyObershaw Dining Room, named afterthe longtime San Bernardino residents.A dinner to honor the couple isplanned for January to recognizetheir lasting legacy.Ever civic-minded, the Obershawshave been honored by the university fortheir substantial support of scholarshipsCreating a Legacyat CSUSB. “Chuck and Shelby havebeen exceptionally generous to Cal State— giving of their time, commitment andwealth, especially to our endowed scholarshipcampaign,” said CSUSB PresidentAlbert Karnig at a reception honoringscholarship donors. “They are truly leavingan exceptional legacy at Cal State,”added Marilyn Karnig, wife of the president.Charles Obershaw said he and hiswife are honored by the recognition, butthis is not the reason they give. “Shelbyand I are absolutely delighted by thisgenerous action of the university,” saidObershaw. “We’re both delighted to giveback to the system that has been so goodto us. During Shelby’s last year in collegean alumni scholarship made it possiblefor her to complete her degree. We bothunderstand how important scholarshipsare to a student’s success.”In 2001, the Obershaws providedthe lead gift in a $1.5 million campaignto raise money for endowed scholarshipsat CSUSB. They donated $517,000 tothe campaign, launching it and helpingto meet its goals ahead of schedule. TheObershaws have since donated morethan $200,000 this year to the Charlesand Shelby Obershaw ScholarshipEndowment.The Obershaws, who have supportedscholarships and other activitiesat the university for many years, sharea special concern for teacher training atCSUSB. For years Shelby Obershaw wasan elementary school teacher in the SanBernardino city school system. Today,she serves on the dean’s advisory boardfor the College of Education at CSUSB,and Charles Obershaw serves on theuniversity’s Foundation board. He isthe former owner of Chuck ObershawToyota.18CSUSBA Treasure Trove of PossibilitiesFor the new development director in the social sciences college, inspiring giftsto the university is often a matter of fitting the philanthropists with the needsCecilia Soriano sees her job as buildingrelationships between Cal State SanBernardino’s academic programs and thepeople who have the heart and resourcesto help the university in its educationalmission.“It’s really about establishing relationshipsand partnerships with yourconstituents, so your constituents arepart of the vision” of the university, saidSoriano, hired last spring as the developmentdirector for the College of Socialand Behavioral Sciences. The constituents“support the goals of the institutionbecause they were involved in creating it.That’s real partnership.”Soriano has been busy building thoserelationships and seeking to establishnew ones since joining the university’sdevelopment staff. It’s part of the trackrecord she brings from San Jose StateUniversity, where she was director ofcorporate and foundation giving from1998 to 2004. Prior to that, she workedFall/Winter 2004for 21⁄2 years at Chapman University inOrange, Calif., where she was responsiblefor foundation giving. Originally fromManila, Philippines, Soriano earned herundergraduate degree in history at theUniversity of Philippines, Diliman, andher M.B.A. at Chapman.It was in Orange County where shefound her niche in fund-raising for nonprofitorganizations, working at theVolunteer Center as its library coordinator.In that job she helped organizationsestablish relationships with private foundationsby providing them informationon how to contact foundations seekingto share their wealth with worthy groups.Since joining Cal State SanBernardino, Soriano has been workingto establish what she calls the infrastructurefor development at the college anddepartment level. That means emphasizing,and in some cases clarifying, herrole to assist the College of Social andBehavioral Sciences departments and programsby showingthem thedifferent wayspeople can contributethroughvehicles such asplanned givingor the establishmentof endowments.For somewithin the college, it is a different wayof looking at the process of charitablegiving. She gave the example of a departmentchair who wants to raise scholarshipmoney and has seemingly run out ofpossible resources. But, Soriano said, thedepartment chair has established relationshipswith retired faculty, and meets withthem as a group regularly. After discussingthe matter with a development director,it could be as simple as tapping theretired faculty because of their ties to thedepartment, using opportunities such asplanned giving or estate planning, andpresenting those options to them.“It may have crossed the departmentchair’s mind, but she would not havefocused on it as I would,” Soriano said.