SUNY Buffalo State Plans New Alumni House and Visitor Center
Imagine a place where alumni can gather to celebrate a Homecoming football victory or mentor students…a place where the Foundation and Alumni Association boards can host meetings and award receptions…a place where campus and community members can meet.
Imagine a place where alumni can come home.
SUNY Buffalo State has announced plans to develop a new 8,000-square-foot Alumni House and Visitor Center that will provide a dedicated space for these activities and much more. In fact, the Alumni House and Visitor Center will be the central hub of alumni activity on campus and will serve as a much-needed place of welcome for the many guests who visit throughout the year.
The first floor will feature a large multiuse hall with seating for more than 100 people. In addition, a spacious reception area, complete with a full set of Buffalo State yearbooks, will be the place to meet before an event and to find visitor information.
The second floor will house the offices of the Buffalo State Alumni Association. The Alumni House and Visitor Center is an essential part of the Alumni Association’s strategy to expand its programs and services and extend its reach to students.
The exterior will feature an outdoor patio, landscaped areas, and reserved parking.
The need is great for a facility dedicated to the college’s mission of serving alumni. Buffalo State’s alumni base is now more than 100,000 strong, with nearly 60,000 alumni living in Western New York. This new facility will be a dedicated gathering space for our largest constituency group; a place that will foster a sense of community and camaraderie. Whenever alumni return to campus—to reminisce with former classmates or to socialize with new friends—they will know that they are welcome at the Alumni House and Visitor Center.
The need is also great for a facility that provides orientation to visitors. Buffalo State prides itself on being a public institution with a public purpose. We excel at this mission and have long served as the anchor to the popular Elmwood Village. Yet, while we host nearly a half-million visitors on campus each year—at academic, cultural, and sporting events—we do not currently have a formal visitor center. A new facility will further strengthen the college’s presence in the heart of Buffalo’s cultural corridor.
LoRusso Leads the Way Home
Jacqueline V. LoRusso, ’62, ’64, has generously committed a lead gift of $500,000 toward the construction of the Alumni House and Visitor Center.
LoRusso, who earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education from Buffalo State, is the owner of JVL Management Company, a rental property management firm. An ardent supporter of the college, she has twice served on the Buffalo State Foundation Board of Directors, from 1993 to 1996 and from 2010 to the present.
Last year, LoRusso made a gift of $100,000 to the Transforming Lives campaign to establish the Jacqueline V. LoRusso Music Scholarship Fund. In recognition of her gift, a recording studio in the new music complex in Rockwell Hall was officially named the Jacqueline V. LoRusso Control Room and Recording Studio. Her second major gift to the campaign will help construct the Alumni House and Visitor Center.
Your Gift Will Help Open the Doors
Jacqueline V. LoRusso’s generous lead gift to the Transforming Lives campaign has helped initiate this project, but Buffalo State must raise an additional $800,000 from private sources to bring this facility to life.
We are confident that this vision for a new Alumni House and Visitor Center at Buffalo State will be made a reality through the generosity of donors who believe in the substantial long-term impact that such a facility will have on alumni and community relations at Buffalo State. Your gift will help open the doors of the new Alumni House and Visitor Center!
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