Students create endowed scholarship

2016 Student Association President Alexander Turner and 2016 Student Association Treasurer Rajkumar Patel present a check to SUNY Poly President and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros for $25,000 to begin an endowed scholarship.

The Student Government Association of SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica has contributed $25,000 towards the creation of an endowed scholarship to be administered by the SUNY Poly Foundation. Student leaders have been generating the required funding for several years and recently reached the threshold for making a permanent endowment.

“This is a wonderful gesture by our current students and clearly demonstrates the value they place on the education and opportunities that are provided here at SUNY Poly,” said Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, President and CEO of SUNY Polytechnic Institute. “An endowed scholarship funded by students speaks volumes and we are both proud of and thankful for their budding philanthropy.  Their gift will pave the way for future generations of students to follow in their generous footsteps.”

“The SUNY Polytechnic Institute Student Association has always been the chief proponent for the students who attend our institution. With the creation of this endowed scholarship, the Student Association is ensuring that students who display an excellence in civic involvement with the affairs of our university will be recognized and rewarded with assistance in tuition expenses while attending SUNY Polytechnic,” said Student Association President Alexander Turner. “The Student Association is proud in its legacy of supporting SUNY Polytechnic students and will continue in its mission of advocating for students in the future.”

Turner donated his Student Association stipend of $630 to the first scholarship award to be applied towards the Fall 2016 semester.

“We are both honored and grateful for the hard work and dedication our students have shown in creating this endowed scholarship,” said Dr. Robert Geer, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of SUNY Poly. “This is an incredible example of generosity, gratitude, and commitment that our students have set forth to their peers and successors, as well as the community as a whole.”

Thanks to the generosity and leadership of SUNY Poly students, a $25,000 donation from the Student Government Association has been made to the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Foundation to create the Student Association Endowed Scholarship. The Student Association Senate at SUNY Poly’s Utica site unanimously supported the creation of the scholarship; a rarity among SUNY schools.  Awards will be made annually to a full-time SUNY Poly student, with preference given to returning students that actively demonstrate leadership qualities and skills.

“Endowed gifts, such as this one, support SUNY Poly forever.  The benefit to future students will be testimony to the foresight of these donors,” said Dr. William Durgin, SUNY Poly Provost.  “As our students build their careers, they are ensuring that others will have the opportunity to do the same.”

“The SUNY Polytechnic Institute Foundation and its Board of Trustees would like to extend our sincere gratitude and appreciation to the students of SUNY Poly for this gift that will create the Student Association Endowed Scholarship,” said Nick Grimmer, Executive Director of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Foundation and Assistant Vice President of Alumni Relations and Development. “This scholarship will be a permanent reminder of the hard-work, generosity, and thoughtfulness that our Student Association has demonstrated over the years since its inception. I sincerely hope that all past and current students are feeling a sense of pride in this investment, as it will provide a significant benefit to the future of their alma mater.”

“The Student Association Endowed Scholarship will be a gift that we fortunate SUNY Poly students of the present can leave behind to SUNY Poly students of the future – a gift to future leaders who will inspire and transform the community’s vision into reality,” said Rajkumar Patel, Treasurer of the SUNY Poly Student Association.

The leadership of the SUNY Polytechnic Institute Student Association formally presented President and CEO Dr. Alain Kaloyeros with a check to commemorate this gift during the 2016 Commencement ceremony on May 7.