Until recently, my answer was “No.” Not that I was proud of it, but I was so consumed with my own life that I just didn’t make time for Barnard outside of my annual giving. Then a friend of mine, Cheryl Milstein, was honored at last year’s Scholarship Gala and Auction and I bought a table. My husband and I had SO MUCH FUN. I reconnected with some old friends and met a lot of fun new ones.

So when Cheryl called and asked if I’d be on the committee for planning THIS year’s event, I didn’t really hesitate. YES, YES, YES. . . Especially considering the two honorees. Out-going President Judith Shapiro and Diana Vagelos: Two women who have done so many important things for Barnard. It’s been a real pleasure to be getting auction items to help their special night raise a lot of money.

The Scholarship Gala is meaningful to me for more personal reasons as well. When I was a freshman at Barnard, my family’s yearly household income was about $25,000 and I had an older brother who was also in school. My mother was a widow that was working as hard as she could, taking two jobs when she had to so we could make ends meet. I was able to attend Barnard because of the generosity of the same kinds of people that currently attend and bid on auction items at the Scholarship Gala. Without their kindness, I don’t know what my life would be like today.

I know it’s really easy to get caught up in your own life and just remember Barnard as a fun 4 years in the distant past. Believe me — Barnard was on my back-burner for many, many years as well. But if there’s one Barnard event/cause that you’ll come out to support financially, I hope you will consider the Scholarship Dinner. . . especially if you were, like me, the beneficiary of financial aid at Barnard. Whether it’s attending the event on Monday, June 16, 2008 — you can get tickets at http://giving.barnard.edu/gala — or participating in our online auction — www.charityfolks.com/barnard — to bid on some of the fun auction items — you can feel good knowing the money is helping girls get an incredible education. Your donations will also go toward our reunion drive so you can help get your class’s numbers up.

If everyone reading this even gave a small amount, it would go a long way. I hope you’ll consider it. Okay, sermon over.

xx
atoosa