Join the Cortland Challenge on April 21

04/05/2021

The mission of the annual Cortland Challenge has always been simple. It’s about alumni, faculty, staff and friends coming together to make a difference for SUNY Cortland and its students.

On Wednesday, April 21, donors can give to the campus cause of their choice at RedDragonNetwork.org/challenge. Those causes include academic departments, athletic teams and specific initiatives such as scholarships and The Cortland Fund for Equity and Inclusion.

When you make a gift to The Cortland Fund, your contribution is going directly to the university’s greatest areas of need and has an impact on the entire campus community.

The Cortland Fund supports campus life in a vast variety of ways, including:

Scholarships
Honors Convocation awards
Professional development for faculty and staff
Technology and software
Major events
Alumni Engagement program support
The Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House

Several generous alumni have pledged matching gifts to support the Cortland Challenge, including Cheryl Ellsworth Barredo M ’81, Louise Conley, Michael Leeolou ’81 and Catherine Suarez Leeolou ’81, Anthony Moon ’86 and Susan Moon, Kim Stack-Myers ’79, Victor M. Rumore II ’84, and Constellation Advancement. Together, they have committed $52,000 toward this year’s challenge.

These matching gifts will be unlocked throughout Challenge day as certain donor thresholds are met. Those thresholds are:

462 donors, representing the number of programs and events hosted by SUNY Cortland during the 2020-21 academic year.
800 donors, representing the approximate number of donor-sponsored and The Cortland Fund scholarships awarded during 2020-21.
1,345 donors, representing the number of faculty and staff employed at the university.

The Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors has collectively contributed more than $20,000 toward a dollar-to-dollar match to The Cortland Fund.

A general athletics challenge will be backed by a $10,000 matching gift from Cortland College Foundation board member Louise Conley.

SUNY Cortland’s 20 athletic teams will be divided into four categories based on the number of alumni: small, medium, large and extra-large. An award of $1,000 will be given to the team that receives the most donors in each category and $100 will be bestowed on each team that reaches its category’s donor mark.

The team that raises the most money will receive $2,000 and a trophy. Teams that meet their category’s donor mark will be eligible for a $1,000 prize that goes to the team with the highest average gift to The Cortland Fund.

If 746 donors give to any of the athletics program funds, including general athletics and the C-Club Endowment, $1,000 will be awarded to The Cortland Fund. SUNY Cortland had 746 student-athletes during the 2020-21 academic year.

Barredo is giving $1,000 toward a power hour challenge. Look out for details on social media during challenge day!

Constellation Advancement is donating $1,000 in a dollar-for-dollar match to the Cortland Fund for Equity and Inclusion.

The 2020 Cortland Challenge raised $252,272 from 1,897 donors. Thank you so much for your previous support and please consider joining the Cortland Challenge again in 2021.

To learn more, visit RedDragonNetwork.org/challenge. Use the hashtag #CortlandChallenge to follow along with other Red Dragons on challenge day through Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.