Join the Friends of the Presidents!

Established in 1966, the Friends of the Presidents Society recognizes the college’s most generous donors, who set an example of leadership in annual giving (the gift level for membership is $2,000, with a sliding scale of lower levels for the most recent classes).

“Skidmore is…constantly evolving,” states Jed Lavitt ’77 from his desk in the high-yield bond department at Bank of Montreal in Manhattan, where he is vice president for institutional fixed-income sales. A biochemistry major, Lavitt was at Skidmore during its transition to a new campus and coeducation. He vividly remembers then-President Joseph Palamountain welcoming freshmen to an institution that “we would build together as we went along.”

Lavitt and his fellow students acted upon that opportunity: WSPN radio was inaugurated in 1975; basketball, hockey, and lacrosse clubs grew into competitive intercollegiate programs; and Lavitt helped create the college’s first polo team.

After graduation, his diverse interests precipitated a shift in goals: he earned an M.B.A. and set out for New York City’s financial district. He also served as an alumni volunteer—until, in the early ’90s, budget and space constraints led Skidmore to cut the polo program, and in disappointment he withdrew from volunteering.

But two years ago Lavitt had a change of heart: “An alumni board member told me that the Class of 1977 was apathetic, and I felt compelled to prove her wrong,” he says. Taking up the gauntlet, he became class president, and now he’s bringing classmates back to campus for their twenty-fifth reunion in unprecedented numbers and encouraging record-breaking participation in giving.

Why the turnaround? Lavitt owes it to “a tremendous wave of nostalgia” he felt after one particular visit to Skidmore. “It was a perfect summer night, and the strains of music floating across campus suddenly transported me back twenty-five years to when we were helping to build this place. It was exciting to be a part of that, and I want to keep that feeling alive.”

Lavitt concludes, “Skidmore is a constantly evolving organism, and I’ve adapted to that fact by doing a little evolving of my own.” —MM

Tuesday
August 6, 2002
5:30-8:30 p.m.

Save the date...
and note the change in time

The 23rd Annual Palamountain Benefit Polo Match will be held on Tuesday, August 6, 2002, 5:30–8:30 p.m. Please note the change in time—we’re moving from our traditional luncheon to an evening event. Mark your calendar for an elegant evening of sumptuous food, lively entertainment, and world-class polo.

All proceeds from the event go to the Joseph C. and Anne T. Palamountain Scholarship Fund at Skidmore College.

Invitations will be mailed in June. For more information, call the Office of College Events and Stewardship at Skidmore College, 518-580-5670.