Today: Mar 28, 2024

University’s largest endowment

Caitlin O’Halloran Reporter

The School of Business was gifted a $500,000 ceremonial check for leadership development.

“It’s a very important gift that’s really going to enrich the educational opportunities for our students in the school of business,” said Interim Dean for the School of Business James Thorson.

The award was presented by Lindy Lee Gold, who has a commitment to Southern and a life dedication to serving the community.

The Amour Propre Fund helped Gold’s dedication by awarding the School of Business Endowment for Leadership Development with a $500,000 check, the largest contribution ever made to the university according to a previous Southern News article.

“Lindy Gold’s gift for leadership development in the School of Business is going to be transformative to many of our students and will allow us to develop programs that we know they need to help them succeed in their careers,” said former Dean Emeritus of the School of Business, Ellen Durnin.“While Southern provides a strong academic foundation, we hear from employers all the time that students and graduates from all universities could benefit from help in professional development areas and what they call the ‘soft skills.”

This gift was granted to the School of Business to help programs that are part of the Leadership Center there, such as Women’s Leadership and Mentoring Program as well as IMPACT Greater New Haven, but in the future will also support peer-to-peer mentoring.

“We have a well-defined curriculum in business, but also many other aspects of business that don’t always get covered in the curriculum, so this funding will allow our students to learn more leadership skills that are not necessarily tied to the classroom, it’ll give them experiences in internships and hear guest speakers,” said Thorson.

Gold has multiple volunteer experiences, like President of the Gateway Community College Foundation, membership on the Board of Directors at Southern’s Foundation Board, a member of the Board of Directors at the Housatonic Community College Foundation, Connecticut State Board Member at the Anti-Defamation League and Vice President of the Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut.

“One of the things that is a strong projector of career success is having an internship while you’re in college and many of our students are also working while they’re going to school, and it’s difficult for them to leave a job and take an internship,” said Durnin. “So this funding helps us make sure that these internships will all be paid, that there will be a stipend provide for students even if the organization can’t provide.”

Gold participates in these fundings because she believes it is a great factor in “breaking the cycle of poverty.” Because of this generous donation, there will be a suite on campus dedicated and named after Lindy Lee Gold, in the new building for the School of Business that will open in the Spring of 2023, with hopes of receiving other contributions to raise a $2.5 million endowment, according to a Southern News article.

“Southern is a social justice university. That means that we provide access to high quality, affordable education for our students and then within that, the School of Business is committed to what we call ‘change for good’ the idea that business students are learning how to make a difference, we say ‘doing good while doing well,’” said Durnin.

Southern has a Business Success Center which is supported by Wells Fargo. It is there to help students with resources in the business community and help with the professional development of students and even alumni. Southern has a Business Success Center, supported by Wells Fargo.

It is there to help students with resources in the business community and help with the professional development of students.The center also helps students find experiential internships that will help qualify them post-graduation careers.

“It’s really going to enrich the education of our students,” said Thorson. “I just think that the School of Business has been very fortunate that we have people like Lindy Lee Gold who value what we do and are willing to support us in such a large way.”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Latest from Blog