Gift Roster 2003 - 2004
Anniversary classes traditionally collaborate to raise funds for their alma mater in honor of their big reunion year. Nearly two years ago, representatives from the class of 1954 gathered to plan for their 50th anniversary celebration in Yellow Springs and discuss how their class could contribute to the College.
“I was a major pusher for the Anne Poindexter Fischer Endowed Scholarship idea. We thought ‘endowed’ fit into the campaign very well and my wife had been pushing me to do something to honor Anne ever since her untimely death,” says Dave Goodwin ’54, a member of the planning committee who dated Anne during their first year at Antioch. “That crowd got behind it immediately because they all new and loved her, and since we were the ‘democratically self-appointed steering committee,’ we just carried the day.” Other members of the steering committee were Ed Granai ’54, Judy Wood Spock ’54, Niels Lyster ’54, Bob Dawson ’54, Ilse Opton Tebbets ’54, Jim White ’54 and Janet Adams Turner Munson ’54. “Obviously it clicked with a lot of other people, too. Anne touched everybody—the classes before us, the classes after us—I mean everybody. She was a hall advisor, a hall advisee. Everybody in that five-year spread knew Anne.”
And so the group began fundraising. They penned letters and networked electronically. “Ed Granai is the king of email,” says Dave. “I don’t remember any other particularly brilliant schemes, but we just kept bugging everybody.”
In order to endow a scholarship, the class of ’54 needed to raise at least $50,000. However, these tenacious Antiochians set their goal even higher, deciding they would raise $100,000. “The first $35,000 came really fast and then there was a lag, but suddenly we shot past $50,000. We got three $10,000 gifts, which gave us a tremendous boost. Jenny Fischer, Anne’s daughter, wrote family members and friends and got them involved. As a result of that, another of Anne’s old boyfriends said, ‘If you guys get to 90, I’ll put in the last ten,’” Dave recounts.
By Reunion, the class of ’54 was close, but still hadn’t raised the $90,000 needed to receive the final gift. Unfazed, the steering committee continued working and was met with great enthusiasm from their classmates. Dave recalls, “People just stepped up.” Some classmates increased their gifts and others made signs promoting the scholarship. “It became a fun project for everybody.”
During the banquet Saturday evening, Dave, along with Niels Lyster, stood and made a short pitch for the scholarship, announcing a $1,000 matching gift had been offered. Immediately, five hands shot up pledging a $1,000 apiece. “Everybody got into the action and moved this thing through.” By the end of reunion weekend, the class of ’54 had met their goal, raising $100,000 to endow a scholarship in Anne Poindexter Fischer’s honor. “That was the best part of Reunion for me,” says Dave.
The endowed scholarship is a particularly appropriate way to honor Anne because of her lifelong involvement with Antioch. “She cared about the College a great deal. Her interest in Antioch never ended,” says Dave. Even after they broke up, Dave continued to have a strong friendship with Anne. He lives in the Dayton area and they often managed to get together. “She was involved with the Alumni Board, so she’d visit or I’d come to Yellow Springs and catch her between meetings .” Anne also served for many years as the director of alumni relations.
Dave shares Anne’s commitment to Antioch. He also served on the alumni board where he chaired the development committee. When he reached his term limit, Dave wanted to continue his involvement with the College. Someone suggested he join the development committee of the Glen Helen Ecology Institute; he did and now, seven years later is the board chair. “I had the opportunity to be on the Alumni Board and the Glen Helen committees, and in every one of those situations I found people that I really admire and respect. I retired 10 years ago, so I’ve got the time to give and why not? Why not do something that’s for the most part really enjoyable?”
In addition to his commitments to the Glen and the Reunion planning committee, Goodwin has spent the last few years volunteering as a member of the College’s Campaign Cabinet. “I’m just a boy who can’t say no.” Goodwin laughs. “It’s just that these are really good institutions and I want to see them flourish.”
