The 1856 Challenge: 2023 Edition
Sanna Koivumäki matched $20Elizabeth M. Edwards matched $20
Kiersten Larrabee matched $20Jabari Bowen matched $25Katie Dolan matched $25
Sonja Jensen matched $25Mary Baucom matched $25
Denny Morreale matched $25Elsa coughlin matched $25Joshua Lashway & Molly Plunkett Lashway matched $50Cameron Bruns Ewing matched $50
Amanda Brewer & Andrew Diehl matched $50Cooper McCrillis matched $50Cooper McCrillis matched $50Erica Byrne matched $50Christina Robichaud matched $75
Bailey Campbell matched $100
Nicholle Gotham matched $100Emily Doolan-Roy matched $100Claire O’Neil matched $100
Madeline Fones matched $100Matt Dodge & Taylor Moon matched $100Cailand Lainey & Nicholas Lainey matched $100Laura Patrick matched $150Aaron Bushey-Hansen matched $200Mary Claire Schwab Farnham matched $250
Bill Prescott matched $250Hulit P Taylor matched $450Anne Ferris Cassidy matched $500
Paige Palley matched $530Daniel Graham '00 matched $1,000An Anonymous Donor matched $1,100An Anonymous Donor matched $2,500An Anonymous Donor matched $5,000Sue Hawkes Wight '73, P'00, '10 matched $5,000Wells Blaxter '92 matched $7,500An Anonymous Donor matched $10,000Don Stuart '77 matched $10,000An Anonymous Donor matched $10,000Peter Hunt '75 & Mary Jo Faucher Hunt '76 matched $18,560
Help Us Unlock $125,000 for St. Lawrence Students!
The 1856 Challenge: 2023 Edition aims to unite alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends around the Scarlet & Brown. Generous Laurentian leaders are so inspired by the potential of our combined effort – and our outstanding students – they’re challenging our community, which can unlock up to $125,000 to vital St. Lawrence Fund priorities, including Health & Wellness and Sustainability, by reaching 1,856 donors before 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 26.
Gifts of all sizes to any priority count towards our ambitious effort, including Scholarship, Health & Wellness, Diversity and Inclusion, Career Programming, Excellence in Teaching, Sustainability, and the St. Lawrence Fund. Unsure which priority to support? Take our 1856 Challenge Quiz and see which philanthropic personality you are!
Incentives
Give The 1856 Challenge momentum and take advantage of a custom Incentive!
With a gift of $100+, early donors can claim one of the following custom 1856 incentives:
- Adventurer: Thanks for making it rain! Don’t let weather slow you down with your new custom St. Lawrence Saints poncho.
- Competitor: Thanks for helping us stack the deck for our students! Shuffle up and deal out your new custom St. Lawrence stained glass window playing cards.
- Developer: Cheers to you! Enjoy your coffee chats with fellow Laurentians using your new, reusable St. Lawrence Saints travel mug.
- Inspirer: Hail Alma Mater! Never lose your page in The Gridiron with your custom St. Lawrence-inspired book hook.
The Founder’s Incentive awaits those interested in matching their gift size with the University’s founding year! Gifts of $1,856 and above claim each incentive item above AND a custom St. Lawrence hammock.
Throughout our climb to 1,856 donors, we will highlight key St. Lawrence numbers, with the corresponding donor winning a special 1856 Prize Pack! You never know who might win!
The 1856 Challenge: 2023 Edition is in the books, and thanks to you, it is one of the most successful fundraising achievements in St. Lawrence history! We met our lead challengers' three lofty goals, unlocking $135,000 total and honoring the amazing Class of 2023 along the way.
2,040 Donors. $539,472 for St. Lawrence students. A truly special effort that included alumni gifts spanning the classes of 1949 through 2022, over 270 gifts from current seniors, the momentum-building gifts from parents, and wonderful support from faculty and staff who cherish time with our students.
Thank you to all of our advocates, who waved the Scarlet and Brown as challengers, matchers and connectors! A special thanks to our lead challengers André Couture '82, P'15, Julie Black Hitch '88 and Jordan Hitch, Ed '86 and Sara Keller P'24, Tim '80 and Carolyn Streett Simpson '81, P'13, Will '88 and Laura Wilson P'23 for their generous support to generate excitement and move the needle.
On behalf of a grateful campus community, thank you all so, so much!
The Chapel Bells are ringing with pride, as the St. Lawrence community has achieved its goal of 1,856 donors before 8 p.m. ET! And while it was certainly a photo finish, Tracey Gale Yorio '86 was our 1,856th donor and snags the final prize pack.
BUT WAIT...
Our lead challengers, who generously have contributed $100,000 to St. Lawrence to support student needs Including sustainability and health & wellness, want to push all the way to the finish line. If we can reach 2,023 donors, in honor of the Senior Class, they will add an additional $10,000!
Let's get it done!
The Scarlet and Brown parade to 1,856 is in full force now, and we've got Claire Niederbuhl Skidmore '72 leading the way! Claire, who celebrated her 50th Reunion last year, knows the Alumni Parade route around the Quad well and landed at Donor No. 1,690 which just happens to be the number of feet in the parade route! Who will win the coveted Hervey Cup at Reunion in 2023? Remains to be seen. Until then, onward to 1,856 towards a $100,000 bonus!
Wyoming's own Dave DeFazio '92 hauls in a touchdown-of-a-prize with an 1856 Pack in honor of the Saints football team's passing yards last season (1,540).
Saints, we're in the 4th Quarter now, and no timeouts left. Let's post a game-winning drive, together!
"When the moon hits your eye with a Sergi's pizza pie, that's amore!"
Congratulations to Emily Whipple '23, who continues an impressive run by the current seniors and claims the 1856 Prize Pack for 1,370 slices of pizza eaten at Laurentian Weekend 2022. Frank was so proud! Donor No. 1,371 was Trey Pierce '26, and we're so impressed with this philanthropy as a sophomore, we're treating Trey to a free Sergi's pizza roll!
The red light is flashing and the air siren at Appleton Arena is blaring for Erin O'Brien '23 who is our 1,231st donor! Erin scores an 1856 Prize Pack in honor of Coach Wells and the women's hockey team's total number of shots taken throughout the 2022-23 season. Here We Go Saints!
"HAIL ALMA MATER!!" We get goosebumps when the Laurentian Singers belt out that phrase. This year, the group's spring tour included stops in New York City, Boston, Rochester, Burlington and more. After traveling 1,129 miles, they returned safely to campus. In honor of the Laurentian Singers, and Director of Music Ensembles Barry Torres who is set to retire this year, we recognize donor No. 1,129, Joe and Laura Bicknell Carbone from the surging class of 1991!
That's right, fellow Laurentians: Donor No. 928 mean's we're halfway there! Congratulations and thanks to our halfway markers, Steve and Amy Kessing P'26, who know we've gotta hold on to what we've got, and it makes a difference if we make it or not! By reaching 928 donors, we've unlocked $25,000 from our primary challengers for the St. Lawrence Fund, with an additional $100,000 if we can match our effort before 8 p.m. ET tomorrow. If we stick together, we'll make it I swear!
When the new spire was lowered atop Gunnison Memorial Chapel in 2015, Laurentians gathered on the Quad to sing the Alma Mater. That spire had quite a road trip, 865 miles from Kentucky to Canton. Congratulations to Ryan Young '20 on being donor No. 865, with a Prize Pack that will also have quite a road trip to California!
There's no digging out of this one! Kelley Bordeleau Lamb '97, M'98 is the 796th donor to this year's 1856 Challenge! This prize pack is in memory of the 79.6" of average snowfall in Canton...and also the 79.6% chance it snows again before June!
Congratulations to Pam Swanson '12 and Jason Kyle '13 on landing Comet's Prize Pack as donor No. 664! Comet has served as the Presidential Pup at MacAllaster House since July 1, 2021. What a good boy!
That escalated quickly! One lunch break and POW we're well past Donor No. 511, representing the number of seats in Gulick Theatre. Shout out to the Class of 2007's reporter Danni Weaver Nesselbush, who claims this prize pack. We hope this exciting win makes it into the next Magazine Column. Congrats Dani!
Congratulations going out to our first student prize pack winner, Keenan Wilson '23! Keenan, who supported the Senior Class Gift, was donor No. 354 recognizing the number of students who are living in Theme Houses in 2022-23. That said, our THEME today is Scarlet & Brown, right Keenan?!
NOM NOM Indeed!! Our talented team in Dining Services bakes 180 Pub Cookies per day, and that unlocks an 1856 Prize Pack for Julie Parker '84. Thanks for your support, Julie!
The climb to 1,856 is underway! Thank you to all who have given us early momentum. Off to get a glass of milk...
Which number might be next???
Donors
View All Donors
| Class Year | Donors | Raised ($) |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | 2 | $10 |
| 1957 | 0 | $0 |
| 2019 | 24 | $866 |
| 2018 | 24 | $957 |
| 1953 | 4 | $4,300 |
| 1964 | 5 | $275 |
| 1990 | 25 | $7,346 |
| 2015 | 26 | $1,032 |
| 1994 | 23 | $43,513 |
| 1986 | 25 | $10,328 |
| 1974 | 21 | $5,470 |
| 2004 | 13 | $4,845 |
| 2024 | 10 | $88 |
| 1980 | 30 | $7,499 |
| 1989 | 26 | $13,679 |
| 1978 | 12 | $2,025 |
| 1992 | 23 | $10,151 |
| 2000 | 16 | $3,786 |
| 2022 | 18 | $800 |
| 1993 | 27 | $12,861 |
| 1981 | 20 | $6,132 |
| 1987 | 24 | $5,209 |
| 2025 | 22 | $138 |
| 2011 | 21 | $1,214 |
| 2014 | 26 | $1,971 |
| 1968 | 16 | $3,880 |
| 2006 | 20 | $2,646 |
| 1985 | 21 | $5,800 |
| 1979 | 21 | $5,750 |
| 1976 | 16 | $20,855 |
| 1982 | 22 | $21,268 |
| 1977 | 18 | $16,540 |
| 1999 | 23 | $3,426 |
| 1995 | 20 | $8,636 |
| 1972 | 22 | $3,656 |
| 1997 | 20 | $3,692 |
| 2020 | 22 | $539 |
| 2008 | 24 | $7,972 |
| 2002 | 10 | $835 |
| 2013 | 35 | $3,722 |
| 1956 | 4 | $300 |
| 2016 | 26 | $1,869 |
| 1983 | 18 | $2,025 |
| 2017 | 31 | $1,187 |
| 1967 | 12 | $2,470 |
| 1975 | 17 | $26,796 |
| 2005 | 18 | $3,592 |
| 1988 | 44 | $10,618 |
| 1969 | 9 | $3,725 |
| 1961 | 12 | $2,936 |
| 2012 | 31 | $1,647 |
| 2009 | 12 | $1,080 |
| 1984 | 22 | $5,191 |
| 1991 | 31 | $12,195 |
| 2007 | 24 | $4,621 |
| 1951 | 1 | $100 |
| 1962 | 8 | $1,960 |
| 2010 | 26 | $1,266 |
| 2003 | 29 | $2,587 |
| 2021 | 14 | $372 |
| 1973 | 36 | $33,375 |
| 1954 | 1 | $100 |
| 1971 | 17 | $2,865 |
| 1998 | 28 | $2,825 |
| 1960 | 6 | $1,769 |
| 2001 | 11 | $2,181 |
| 1963 | 3 | $263 |
| 1996 | 11 | $1,085 |
| 1965 | 7 | $1,600 |
| 2023 | 272 | $26,812 |
| 1952 | 2 | $1,015 |
| 1955 | 0 | $0 |
| 1950 | 2 | $1,856 |
| 1959 | 7 | $2,600 |
| 1966 | 6 | $470 |
| 2026 | 9 | $72 |
| 1970 | 9 | $1,150 |
| Priorities | Donors | Raised ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Career Programming | 67 | $10,969 |
| Excellence in Teaching | 66 | $7,776 |
| Sustainability Initiatives | 117 | $27,448 |
| Health and Wellness | 149 | $22,239 |
| Scholarship | 325 | $54,629 |
| Diversity, Equity & Inclusion | 130 | $8,526 |
| St. Lawrence Fund | 757 | $230,194 |
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