Commencement is truly an inspiring day—it allows us to pause and focus our attention on the hope, promise, and excitement of what lies ahead. We recently celebrated the accomplishments of the Daemen College Class of 2019 at our 68th annual commencement. We commemorated these graduates, and we are looking forward to watching them follow their passions and achieve their goals knowing they are fully prepared to make a positive impact on the world around them.
Graduates, as you move on to the next chapter in your life, we want to welcome you to our growing alumni network. You will always be welcomed back to campus, and I encourage you to stay connected with your alma mater. Your Daemen degree and college experience have positioned you well for whatever future you envision. It is fitting, then, that this issue of Daemen Today features a cover story on generations of alumni in the Cuddy family, who demonstrate the unique and lasting bond that graduates have with our college.
With the conclusion of another memorable academic year, we marked a range of impressive achievements by our student-athletes. Our women’s volleyball team won the 2018 East Coast Conference regular season, allowing them to host the conference tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. Serving as host allowed us to win the conference tournament championship on our home court in front of our students and fans. Also, our men’s basketball team won the 2018 East Coast Conference regular season and played in March Madness post-season play. The team ended the year ranked 22nd in the final national poll of the season—a huge accomplishment for being one of the newest Division II programs in the nation. Thanks to the team’s success, they have been invited to play an exhibition game vs. Syracuse in the fall.
These are milestones that our entire Daemen community takes great pride in. You can read more about these and other major achievements in athletics in this issue of Daemen Today.
Daemen continues to garner substantial accolades of National Distinction. Recently, the State of New York officially designated Daemen as a multi-campus institution, and the prestigious Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education advanced the college to doctoral status, making it one of only two private colleges in Western New York at the doctoral level. And we continue to introduce new and unique graduate programs, such as our master’s programs in cytotechnology, social work, and applied behavior analysis.
To build on our momentum and growth, in 2017 we launched the public phase of our Drive to 75 comprehensive campaign to raise $22 million by 2022, the year Daemen celebrates its 75th anniversary. The generosity shown by our campaign donors so far has been exceptional. We are deeply grateful for their support.
Inside this magazine, you will find a progress update on our campaign as we work toward attaining or even surpassing our fundraising goal. As we strive to achieve new levels of excellence, your support for our campaign will make all the difference. Together, we will help Daemen flourish—and, most importantly, have a positive and lasting impact on our students for generations to come.
The success of this historic campaign will require the support of our entire community. I hope you will join us in the Drive to 75 by making a gift. Thank you for supporting us in this ambitious effort.
With pride in Daemen,
Gary A. Olson
President
