Buffalo State Honors Donors, Scholarship Winners at Breakfast
On Saturday, September 24, Buffalo State hosted its third annual Scholar and Donor Breakfast for more than 350 attendees. Scholarship recipients, donors, and families filled the Campbell Student Union Social Hall to celebrate Buffalo State’s scholars and their benefactors.
The breakfast was hosted by President Katherine S. Conway-Turner and sponsored by Chartwells USA. Barbara Nelson (pictured) gave remarks and represented all the donors who have made privately-funded scholarships possible, including the Scholarship and Special Support Awards in Art Education Fund.
“To donate is to pass something on to another—generation to generation, person to person. We donate knowledge, time, food, experience, wealth, strength. Some of us donate in various ways to students, and they will donate to the world things we can't do, things we haven't even visualized,” Nelson said.
Miranda Vellozzi-Fischetto, recipient of the Barbara and Donald Nelson Scholarship and Special Support Awards in Art Education, represented the other five Nelson scholars and addressed the guests. “Barbara Nelson has provided all of us with that first lesson, that basis of support. It is now our responsibility to continue to build on that foundation, not only for ourselves, but also for the future generations,” Vellozi-Fischetto said. “You have given us not only the ability, but the courage to grow as people, share our ideas, experiment with new things, and, most importantly, to continue to creatively learn.”
Eighty-five percent of Buffalo State’s students receive financial assistance. More than 200 privately-funded scholarships provide more than 500 students with scholarships ranging from $250 to $7,000.