A longtime member of the Sheldon Legacy Society, James recently took on leadership of this group of loyal Oswego supporters who have remembered the college in their estate plans.

Jack James ’62, right, met the latest recipient of his endowed scholarship, Joe Murdoch ’12, left, at King Alumni Hall last fall. Meeting the winners of his scholarship, who balance work and family life along with their studies, is “humbling,” James says.

“A legacy gift is the ultimate commitment a donor can make to Oswego. It means that you are making the college a part of your family,” James explains.

Calling a planned gift both “symbolic and meaningful,” he added that a legacy gift makes a lasting impact on the college and its students. “When you invest in education, you are investing in the future,” he says.

As chair, James will lead a core group of Sheldon Legacy Society members committed to growing membership in the society and spreading the message of the value of planned gifts.

James explains that a legacy gift could give a donor the ability to support Oswego to an extent that might not be possible during his or her lifetime.

By giving the proceeds of an insurance policy or making the college the beneficiary of a retirement plan, donors can make a substantial gift without impacting their family’s present income.

James leads by example, bequeathing 70 percent of his own estate to Oswego. He also established a charitable gift annuity in honor of his class’s 50th reunion.

His gifts fund The Jack C. James ’62 Endowment Fund, which supports a scholarship fund for non-traditional students, an equipment and facilities improvement fund and a School of Education student program fund.

For more information about the Sheldon Legacy Society or making a planned gift to Oswego, contact the Office of Development at 215 Sheldon Hall, email sheldonlegacy@oswego.edu or call 315-312-3003.

It is the largest planned gift in the school’s history, and will affect the lives of generations of students who otherwise might not be able to afford a college education. By supporting math and science education for New York state students, the gift will potentially lift the whole area economically.

But, at the donor’s request, his identity will remain anonymous.

“This is a transformative gift that will make individual dreams come true and can help boost the economy of our state,” said President Deborah F. Stanley.

An anonymous donor has announced his intention to bequeath $5 million to benefit the Possibility Scholarship program. The initiative supports students in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.

“With this gift, our generous donor is opening the door to a college education and a better life for many of our future students.”

The Possibility Scholarship provides talented students from New York state who want to study in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, with the financial help they need to attend SUNY Oswego.

The alumnus made clear that his intention is to promote the study of math, which he feels is crucial to success in most fields. “Math is a universal language and supports every other subject,” the donor said. “Regardless of what career path one takes, a strong math background is important to excel.”

As a soldier toward the end of the Vietnam War, he used his math skills to help the Pentagon determine which troops to bring home first. After his service he began a career in real estate, where math again helped him succeed. “I made most of my money from real estate investing,” he said. “Math was very instrumental in helping me to evaluate investments.”

The donor wants to keep America more competitive in the global economy, he said, by reversing a trend toward the acceptance of poor math skills in this country’s students.

The alumnus focused his generosity on the Possibility Scholarship program because it covers all tuition, fees, and room and board, in coordination with any other grants or scholarships awarded, for qualifying students for four full years.

The donor knows how important such aid can be. A Regents Scholar, he worked hard to pay his way through college. Scrubbing pots and pans in the dining hall, serving as resident assistant in a Lakeside residence hall, and bartending at a local establishment helped him pay for his college degree.

The Possibility Scholarship’s tuition benefit “takes away one more fear or impediment to concentrating,” he said. “Most people, when they have problems in life, it is usually financially originated. Remove that element and it makes people’s lives more stress-free.”

The alumnus said he wants to give back to Oswego because of the great experience he had at the college, and he wants to help others — who might not otherwise be able to afford higher education — to have the same great experience.

He made the most of his time at Oswego as a very active student, taking part in varied and enriching experiences, including student media.

A third-generation American, he formed a bond with a foreign language professor, Dr. Joseph Wiecha, who helped him get a scholarship to study one summer in the land of his ancestors. “I considered that the highlight of my life, going over there,” he said. Possibility Scholars travel to one of several Global Laboratory partners that Oswego has on every continent to study and work on science projects with researchers in their fields.

Despite wanting his name kept private for now, the donor said he hopes that his gift will inspire others to support Oswego and its students with an estate gift,

Julibeth Saez ’12 aims for a career as a veterinarian.

especially since state budget support for the college is diminishing.

“You have to give back, especially if Oswego’s been good to you,” he said.

He also pointed out that bequests to a charitable organization given during or after a donor’s lifetime reduce the taxable portion of the estate, thus avoiding the maximum potential 55 percent estate tax. “I would rather give a dollar than pay 55 cents to Uncle Sam,” he said.

The bottom line for this savvy investor and philanthropist is investing in the next generation.

“It all starts with an education. That’s the foundation of any life,” he said. With his generous bequest, he will provide that foundation for countless students who follow in his footsteps at Oswego.

—Michele Reed

A member of the Sheldon Legacy Society — a group of loyal Oswego supporters who have remembered the college in their estate plans — James has bequeathed 70 percent of his estate to Oswego.

His gift will help to expand and grow The Jack C. James ’62 Endowment Fund, which supports three initiatives dear to James’ heart. It will augment The Jack C. James ’62 Scholarship Fund and establish two new funds, The Jack C. James ’62 Equipment and Facilities Improvement Fund and The Jack C. James ’62 School of Education Student Program Fund.

Jack James ’62, right, met the latest recipient of his endowed scholarship, Joe Murdoch ’12, left, at King Alumni Hall last fall. Meeting the winners of his scholarship, who balance work and family life along with their studies, is “humbling,” James says.

His impetus for making Oswego such an important part of his estate plans, James says, stems from his confidence in the institution.

“Not a lot of organizations have been around for 150 years and give you confidence based on a track record of excellence and service,” he says.

His personal confidence is rooted in his long involvement with the college as a member of the Oswego College Foundation Board of Directors, Reunion volunteer and former chair of The Fund for Oswego, all of which afforded him the opportunity to work with President Deborah F. Stanley and key members of her administration.

He appreciated the “prudent, fiduciary” application of gifts by the college. “To endow a gift means it will be here in the future, forever,” he says. For him, the college inspires confidence that future leaders of the institution will use the gifts wisely.

The Jack C. James ’62 Scholarship, now in its fifth year, was his first initiative. It provides scholarship help for non-traditional students, a demographic James taught at National Louis University as an adjunct professor in the College of Management and Business.

“When I meet my scholarship winners, I come away humbled,” he says, “They make enormous sacrifices, working full time and raising families, while they earn their degrees.” Knowing he provides financial help to them is meaningful to James, especially in the current tight economy.

Likewise, supporting the School of Education through a student-programming fund speaks to his heart. Education is a family tradition, with both his mother and sister serving as teachers. “When I returned from the military, I realized my real love was education,” says the Vietnam-era veteran, who retired from the U.S. Marine Corps with the rank of colonel.

“When you invest in education, you are investing in the future,” he says.

He helped build 26 bases while serving in the USMC. Knowing the work that goes into bringing facilities on line, he says he was “wowed” by what the college has done to upgrade its infrastructure in recent years. So he has endowed a fund to help with future campus improvements.

“When I return to campus now I see the phoenix rising,” he says. “I think back to the [Quonset] huts” that were on campus when he was a student in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

“I have no idea what the needs will be on campus years from now, but I know there will be needs,” he says. “And I have the confidence in the people who put all this brick and mortar into place to use my gift wisely.”

Following his heart and choosing to invest his philanthropy in an institution where he is confident it will be wisely managed is key to Jack James’ legacy.

For Donald ’62 and Linda Mykland Blauvelt ’61, Oswego is a special place. It’s where they met and fell in love, prepared for a fulfilling career in education and met professors and friends they still remember fondly half a century later.

That’s why the couple, this year celebrating the 50th anniversary of Linda’s graduation and of their marriage, decided to leave Oswego a bequest in their will to establish the Blauvelt Scholarship Fund.

Donald ’62 and Linda Mykland Blauvelt ’61 returned to campus for Reunion 2011 and made a Sesquicentennial bequest, naming Oswego in their will.

“We didn’t come from a wealthy background by any means,” says Don, who stressed how fortunate they felt to have attended Oswego at a time when there was no tuition. Both became teachers and after decades in the classroom, have now retired. With their legacy gift to Oswego, the Blauvelts can fulfill their wish to pass on their great Oswego experience to future generations of students.

“We tried to give back so that other people might have the same opportunity,” Don says.

The Blauvelts met during their freshman year at a Sigma Gamma fraternity party for Arethusa sorority sisters, setting the stage for half a century of marriage.

The couple has other fond memories of their time at Oswego, many revolving around the professors who nurtured them and set them on the path to a classroom career they loved.

For Don, it was the late Professor Richard Pfund, with whom he would go on to volunteer at Oswego’s Maritime Museum; George Radcliff, an industrial arts professor who supervised student teachers; and Earl Sparr, who would have students over to his house at holiday time.

Professor John Fisher taught Linda in freshman composition class and still remembers her when they attend Florida alumni events together.

“The teachers were always there for you,” recalls Linda, who has fond reminiscences of her first class in EEIA, elementary education industrial arts, with Professor Robert Babcock ’49.

Both remember classes in the “old wooden shacks” of Splinter Village, the city of Oswego and the many establishments students from the dry campus frequented — Nunzi’s, Buckland’s, McCarthy’s — as well as the curfews.

The couple was back on campus in June for Linda’s 50th Reunion, and remembered how “special” the class felt, as the 100th class to graduate from Oswego.

What better way to mark that special reunion — and Oswego’s Sesquicentennial — than as the newest members of the Sheldon Legacy Society, the group of loyal donors who carry on Founder Edward Austin Sheldon’s tradition by making an Oswego education possible for future generations through their estate gifts.

For more information on the Sheldon Legacy Society, contact Mark Slayton at 315-312-5560 or by email.