POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam has received a $125,000 financial commitment over the next five years from the Stewart’s Foundation, established by Stewart’s Shops and the Dake family that owns the chain of convenience stores and fuel stations. The foundation’s gift over a half decade will establish the SUNY Potsdam/Stewart’s Foundation Community and College Engagement Fund, […]
POTSDAM — SUNY Potsdam has received a $125,000 financial commitment over the next five years from the Stewart’s Foundation, established by Stewart’s Shops and the Dake family that owns the chain of convenience stores and fuel stations.
The foundation’s gift over a half decade will establish the SUNY Potsdam/Stewart’s Foundation Community and College Engagement Fund, seeking to elevate engagement between SUNY Potsdam students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members.
“Stewart’s and the Dake family are committed to helping provide a college education to students, as well as enhancing our shop communities by giving everyone in the Potsdam community access to college enrichment,” Stewart’s Foundation President Susan Dake said in a news release posted on the website of SUNY Potsdam.
The donation will support ongoing programming that brings together the campus and community, in an effort to deepen connections between students, faculty, staff, alumni, families and the broader region. SUNY Potsdam President Suzanne Smith made “elevating engagement” the theme of her inauguration and is working with campus shared governance to incorporate that tenet into the college’s new strategic plan.
“I am thrilled to announce this major ongoing gift commitment from the Stewart’s Foundation. Since joining the SUNY Potsdam family, it has been my goal to strengthen ties between our campus and the community. We know that if students fall in love with our area, they will have more fun and be more successful while they’re here — and they’ll also have more chances to meet alumni, local business leaders and mentors while they’re at it,” Smith said in the release. “At the same time, this fund will allow us to invest in even more community programming, to help our regional community experience our vibrant campus and all we have to offer as well.”
The ongoing funding will support the campus’s participation in events such as Potsdam Palooza, a partnership between SUNY Potsdam, Clarkson University, and the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce, which encourages new and returning students to visit downtown businesses and get to know the community.
The money will also help start new traditions, like the “Sundaes with Suzanne” reception that recently opened Welcome Weekend 2024. The weekend was designed to help acclimate freshmen, transfer students, and their loved ones to what SUNY Potsdam and the Potsdam and St. Lawrence County area have to offer. During the event, the college president and her leadership team scooped Stewart’s Shops ice cream with all the toppings for new students and their families — followed by a campus-activities fair, with tables from various campus offices and community organizations, per the release.
Founded in 1816, SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls about 2,500 undergraduate and graduate students.
