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November 2008
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ALUMNI NEWS |
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Loyal Donors Recognized at Annual President’s Circle Dinner Nearly 450 of AU’s most loyal and generous alumni and friends mingled last month at the 27th annual President’s Circle dinner honoring donors to American University. The October 23 appreciation dinner at the Ritz-Carlton in downtown Washington marked a year of extraordinary accomplishment for American University and substantial progress toward the $200 million goal of the AnewAU capital campaign. “I’m pleased to announce tonight that we have reached the $170 million mark,” said President Neil Kerwin, SPA/BA ’71, to a roomful of applause. “We’re at 85 percent, which is a good, solid B. But nobody is going to be satisfied until I stand here, as soon as possible, reporting an A+, 100 percent.” Two outstanding members to the AU community were recognized with awards for their dedication and service. Board of Trustees vice chair Thomas Gottschalk graciously accepted the President’s Award for his exemplary service and outstanding leadership to AU. “American University is a much stronger institution today because of the wisdom and guidance you’ve provided in 13 years of service as an American University trustee,” said Kerwin of Gottschalk. “You’ve recruited and mentored new trustees, consulted with university leadership, informed processes and deliberations, and provided wise counsel at significant moments in the university’s history… Your life and career are renowned for standards of integrity, honor, and selflessness,” said Kerwin. Angie Reese-Hawkins, SOC/BA’79, was awarded the Cyrus Ansary medal for her extensive work in the D.C. community. The president and CEO of the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington since 2000, Reese-Hawkins is the first woman and second African American to lead the largest community service organization and childcare provider in the district. “Providing young people and adults the opportunity to realize their full potential in mind, body, and spirit, all the while teaching inclusiveness, honesty, caring, and respect to reflect the best of American higher education and the best of American University, it is fitting that one of the nation’s largest YMCAs is lead by you, an AU alumna, who has devoted her professional life to building strong families and communities in and around the nation’s capital,” said Kerwin of Reese-Hawkins. “I must tell you, this shy woman found her voice at American University,” said Reese-Hawkins, who described herself as “feeling a bit incomplete” when she arrived to AU as a freshman and Frederick Douglass scholarship recipient. “This powerful institution helped me develop the ability to think imaginatively, independently and critically. At American University, I learned to speak up and be an advocate in what I truly believed in. American is the place that transformed this young woman filled with anxiety and replaced it with a more mature person who was absolutely filled with hope for the future.” "I am so thankful to American university for investing in me. Your investment in me can hopefully be measured in the lives I touch every single day through my work at the YMCA. what I want you to know is I’m using this voice to tell you one thing, I’m proud to be a graduate of American University.” President Kerwin closed the evening’s remarks with a glimpse of his vision for AU in the future – and a request that donors remain as steady and generous in their support of AU as the university will be in its efforts to guide students in today’s fast-paced, challenging world. “We are in the midst of a planning process premised on the fundamental idea that the world and our nation, every level of it, needs what American University has… We have an obligation to respond with our absolute best – our best thinking, our best scholarship, our best professional work, our best art, our best teaching, our serious learning, and service. I’m asking each of you, as one of this institution’s most important benefactors, supporters, alumni, and friends, to help your university take the next steps in its development as a major force for enlightenment and progress." - Melissa Reichley
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