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as an ongoing, vigorous supporter of the College’s entire athletics program. He has continued championing FOSA efforts as a Hall of Fame Committee member and men’s tennis representative. He is particularly proud of how FOSA has helped elevate the stature of the student-athlete and the quality of athletic programs and facilities at the College. In preparation for his ffth reunion, Patrick moved from class agent to co-fund chair in 2006, coming up with creative new initiatives to inspire gifts at the Friends of the Presidents level. He partnered with Siret Unsal ’03 to provide funds for a challenge that matched all Annual Fund gifts a few weeks prior to Reunion. His talent for easygoing but focused networking didn’t go unnoticed, and in 2007 he accepted an invitation to join the National FOP Committee. Drawing upon his close connections among members of FOSA and the Skidmore Business Network, he has helped deepen the pool of FOP donors among young alumni, strongly supporting new giving levels that have made it easier for them to join. Stepping up to become chair of young alumni giving on Skidmore’s Alumni Association Board of Directors in 2010, he has frequently hosted young class agents and fund chairs at gatherings he arranges on his own. In 2011, he encouraged students to begin the practice of philanthropy by providing funds to match that year’s senior-gift donations and also hosted a luncheon following an alumni “Real World” professional networking event. Patrick signed on as a member of the National Annual Fund Advisory Committee in 2012.
He says, “My main goal in each of these leadership positions”—all of which he continues to hold today—“is to bring
young alumni into the donor fold and show them how important their dollars are to the College. I lead by putting my money where my mouth is, and I engage them by trying to reignite their passion for what Skidmore has meant to them.” A frm believer in the power of networking (he got his frst job through the father of a Skidmore friend), Patrick also partners with the College’s Career Development Center to serve as a mentor at its “Transition and Transformation” networking events.
Patrick’s passion for giving to others ranges beyond his alma mater to include other organizations close to his heart. He and his family created “Nancy’s Team,” which raised over $250,000 in four years for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, breaking the record for a single team in Massachusetts. Patrick and his extended family also support Tufts New England Medical Center, where his mother received treatment, as well as Hope Lodges, a nonproft that provides free accommodations in Boston for patients seeking treatment there who could not otherwise afford it. He is also a director of the December Dream Foundation, an organization he cofounded with a former Marine Corps offcer and good friend, which partners with the Marines’ Toys for Tots program to provide underprivileged children in the Boston area with Christmas gifts. Vineyard Vines, the apparel company owned by fellow award winner Shep Murray ’93 , has been a strong supporter of the foundation.
A proud son of a large Irish American family, Patrick serves on the board of directors of the Young Leaders Society of the American Ireland Fund. Supporting initiatives throughout the Irish diaspora, the fund aids such Irish homeland
“It’s an incredible honor and very humbling. I just represent the many volunteers who want to help provide the op-portunity for a Skidmore education to as many deserving students as possible. I look forward to staying intimately in-volved with the College in the years ahead.”
D A V I D H . P O R T E R A W A R D F O R Y O U N G A L U M N I S E R V I C E
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