03/25/2025
The clock starts ticking for SUNY Cortland’s annual, 24-hour giving day on Wednesday, April 9, and there’s more at stake than ever.
This year the Cortland Challenge donors could unlock more than $200,000 in matching gifts — $70,000 more than last year — thanks to pledges made by numerous generous alumni, faculty and staff, and friends!
Until midnight on Challenge Day, students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends can give to the Cortland Challenge cause of their choice at give.cortland.edu/2025-Cortland-Challenge. These causes include The Cortland Fund, athletic teams, campus programming and more.
That same website allows supporters to learn more about the challenge and follow its progress throughout the day.
“Last year’s Cortland Challenge brought an extraordinary and record-breaking day,” said President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “But if there’s one thing I know to be true about our Cortland alums and friends, it’s that their competitive spirit always rises to the moment. Our challenge day reminds us that special things can happen when Red Dragons come together in support of our current and future students. I am excited to reach for new heights in 2025.”
More than $50,000 in matching gifts for SUNY Cortland will be unlocked throughout the day as certain donor milestones are met:
- $10,000 unlocked at 607 donors to celebrate the community where SUNY Cortland is located.
- $10,000 unlocked at 1,000 donors
- $15,000 unlocked at 2,000 donors
- $15,000 unlocked at 3,000 donors
- A surprise contribution will be made if we set a new Cortland Challenge record by reaching 3,827 donors, just one more than in 2024!
Every unique donor will count toward unlocking matching gifts, said Natasha McFadden, director of The Cortland Fund.
“These gifts will be awarded at multiple levels,” McFadden said, “with our ultimate goal being a record-breaking 3,827 donors to unlock all awards.”
These matching gifts are made possible by generous supporters who have pledged to provide them, including J. Michael Reagan ’78, Victor Rumore ’84, Diane Gill ’70, Anthony Moon ’86, Michael Cappeto ’71, Marcia Anderson ’73, Peter Kachris ’56 and Susan Paul ’64.
Meanwhile, a dollar-for-dollar match for gifts made to The Cortland Fund will be available all day, up to a total match of $25,000, thanks to a pledge by the Cortland College Foundation Board of Directors.
Additionally, several timed challenges will be made throughout the day, presented as opportunities to unlock awards of $1,000 if 100 donors give within the hour. These are made possible by the following generous donors: Cheryl Barredo M ’81, Robert Cohen ’74, Herbert Haines, Patti Vassia ’65, Michael Wallace ’82 and Mark Zeller ’82.
Athletics Challenge returns
The Athletics Challenge is back this year, with $10,000 on the line. The 20 teams have been broken into four categories: small, medium, large and extra-large. Individual teams will compete in their category to win up to $2,500 in awards by unlocking various fundraising achievements, including most donors and most dollars raised.
In addition to those available matching funds, through donor generosity select athletic teams will have extra match money available. The teams are baseball, men’s soccer, men’s ice hockey, women’s ice hockey, wrestling, men’s lacrosse, women’s basketball, cross country and swimming and diving. Donors for specific teams include Chris ’79 and Terry ’80 Grady, Andi Seger ’71, Joan Sitterly and Sue Zawacki ’74, Michael Green ’81, Robert Hildreth ’67, Stephen Langendorfer ’72, Thomas Christiano ’85, John Tillotson ’91, Dennis Fries ’67, John ’64, M ’67 and Barbara ’62 Brugel, Paul Fardy ’63, John Fiorini and Anderson Young.
Academic/Campus Departments compete
This year, 34 participating academic and campus departments will be competing for the most donors, hoping to win awards of $500 to $2,000 for their programs. Additionally, each participating academic and campus area that reaches 15 donors is eligible to win $100.
Dedicated donors also have offered to match contributions to particular academic or campus departments, including Career Services, The Lynne Parks ’68 SUNY Cortland Alumni House, the William H. Parks Family Center for Environmental and Outdoor Education at Raquette Lake, Study Abroad and International Programs, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Childhood and Early Childhood Education, Foundations and Social Advocacy, Geology, History, Performing Arts and Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies.
Supporting this friendly competition is the President’s Cabinet, including President Erik J. Bitterbaum, Provost Ann McClellan, Vice President for Institutional Adancement Richard Coyne ’07, Vice President for Student Affairs C. Gregory Sharer and Vice President for Finance and Management Mark Yacavone ’94. Additional match donors include Marcia Anderson ’73, Ed Zambraski ’71, Kim Stack-Myers ’79, Ernie Logan ’73, David Kronman ’80, Frank Rossi, William Baerthlein ’76, Michael Bond ’75, Robert Bookman ’76, Heather Brown ’13, Cary Carbonaro ’90, Marjorie Cohan ’68, Joel Tiss ’85 and Ghirish Bhat and Sharon Steadman.
Additional supporters of this year’s Cortland Challenge include the SUNY Cortland Alumni Association Board of Directors and the Metcalf Board of Directors.
Leading up to the big day, the entire campus community is encouraged to:
- Take part in the challenge by making their own gift, in addition to any they already made this year.
- Encourage others in the campus and alumni community to also give to the Cortland Challenge.
- Spread the word on social media accounts. A good way to do this is by sending your own transformational Cortland story via the #CortlandChallenge hashtag.
- And don’t forget, on Challenge Day, use the hashtag #CortlandChallenge to follow along with other Red Dragons through Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).