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One of the biggest events of the year took place in New York City on Sept. 10 as more than 800 ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ alumni, parents and friends filled the Waldorf Astoria in Manhattan for the annual Evening for ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ event in the city.

The event focused on the strength of the alumni network in New York and across the world. It highlighted the stories of alumni and parents whose engagement with the university is impacting programs on campus and advancing alumni careers.

“Our alumni network has never been more vibrant and now stretches all across the world, including our emerging markets in Chicago, Denver, Dallas, San Francisco, and now in London,” said Brian Feeley ’03, director of alumni engagement, during his opening remarks. “Tonight, we are celebrating the network that each of you is building here in New York, which is one of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s most important strategic markets.”

He added that ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s programs in New York, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., have become a national model for excellence in academic internship experiences. For instance, this year the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ in New York program enrolled 75 students interning in companies and organizations including Major League Baseball, Sony Music Entertainment, The United Nations and 60 Minutes.

Katie Chung ’12, a music theatre alumna, shared stories of alumni and parents who have strengthen the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ network in New York, including:

• Sam Burke ’89 P’19, a loyal supporter of ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ athletics and the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business whose influence at Pricewaterhouse Coopers has translated into a dozen ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ interns being hired each year for the past five years.
• Daniel Watts ’04, who besides helping bring national attention to ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ and its renowned music theatre program through his spoken word projects often returns to campus to share his gifts with ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ students.
• Chris Martin ’78 P’13, an ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ trustee who together with his family—wife Nicolette and son Nick—made possible the Martin Alumni Center, the home base for all alumni when they visit campus.
• Gabrielle McGee ’06 and Molly Heffernan ’11, who are making an impact at the Tory Burch Foundation, where together they lead innovative digital initiatives to empower women entrepreneurs.
• Andy and Muffy Fox P’14 P’15 P’17, who have opened their homes to host admissions events and to welcome new students and parents into the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ family.
• Shane Powers ’99, who in his 16 years at Credit Suisse has helped recruit more than 20 ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ alumni and student interns, helping to advance their careers.
• Erica Ayala ’08, who for the past 10 years has worked with the Children’s Defense Fund to improve the lives of young people in her community and mentored students through prior service on the Young Alumni Council.

The crowd also heard from President Leo M. Lambert, who gave an update on the School of Communications expansion and highlighted the important role alumni and parent philanthropy play in building the university’s endowment to support scholarships and access to the ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Experiences.

“The great work for the next 50 years is to build our endowment to keep ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ as affordable and accessible as possible,” he said. “I hope we can count on each of you to support our university to ensure that ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ remains an ever changing, innovative, and student-centered campus that elevates the minds and souls of students and—with your help—continues to rise, grow, and change the world one graduate at a time.”

He also thanked ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ parents Ed and Joan Doherty ’07 for once again hosting the event. The Dohertys have been generous supporters of the university and served as ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ Parents Council members before Ed joined the Board of Trustees in 2006. They also serve as chairs of the Comprehensive Campaign Planning Committee. In 2007 the Dohertys made a $1 million gift to endow The Doherty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ’s Martha and Spencer Love School of Business.

David Beahm ’83, one of America’s prominent event designers, closed the event by paying tribute to the faculty who helped him find his passion and purpose at ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ. A Loyal Alumni Celebration was held immediately after the event for graduates who have supported the university each year. More than 300 alumni donors were in attendance.

Evenings for ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ are held to build strong connections between the university and alumni, parents and friends in cities around the country. The New York Evening For ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ was one of several Evening for ºÚÁϲ»´òìÈ events scheduled for the 2015-16 academic year.