Class reunions are occasions for sweet times of remembrance -- catching up, enjoying each other’s company, swapping family news, telling career stories, revisiting old haunts, recalling events from a crazy, happy past – basically, everyone picking up where they’d left off, as old friends do.
It’s a lot less often that these festive events lead to actions destined to have a major impact on the alma mater. But that’s exactly what’s happened recently at the School of Accounting and Finance (SAF). Two MAcc classes have decided to make unprecedented contributions to the SAF in honour of their respective 25th anniversaries. It all started with their class reunions, and it will have far-reaching effects.
Class chooses Excellence Fund
When the MAcc class of 1988 came together for a 25th anniversary celebration in Waterloo in 2013, they did all the usual reunion things and enjoyed re-connecting with each other. Soon after the event one member, Gavin Swartzman, CEO of Peerage Realty Partners, Inc. in Toronto, got to thinking about the deeper meanings of the milestone they had just marked, and his reflections initiated a fundraising effort that will see his class contribute $250,000 to the School.
“I thought we should build on our nostalgia,” he explains. “Twenty-five years is significant!” The anniversary was a time for stock-taking and giving back. Like other MAcc classes, Gavin’s group had benefited from past SAF supporters, and now it was time for them “to make even bigger things happen” for future generations.
Gavin and classmate Shawn Porter, a partner in Deloitte’s Toronto office, invited their class to support the SAF Alumni Excellence Endowment Fund. This fund provides flexibility to the Director of the School to support areas of highest priority, whether that’s resources for students, faculty or other SAF projects. Currently, the fund is supporting experiential learning activities beyond the classroom. For instance, students get to hear top-notch guest speakers from business and industry, compete in rigorous financial management contests, and organize and attend provincial and national conferences.
Push to meet goal
“The best memories of our class are how we always had each other’s back, so that we could all succeed together,” Gavin and Shawn are reminding classmates. “Let’s show that same spirit today. We invite you to help us meet and exceed our goal.” There has been excellent progress in reaching their ambitious goal, having raised $160,000 to date and counting!
Gavin observes that the potential created by all MAcc classes marking 25th anniversaries could be huge, “millions of dollars.” Elite schools traditionally receive great support from their grads, he notes, and accordingly he urges all SAF alumni to “think bigger.” “We’ve set an ambitious target,” he says of his own class, “and we hope it inspires others.”
Another class steps up
Earlier this year, members of the MAcc ’89 class were eagerly returning to campus to savour their own 25th anniversary. Topping the program were what proved to be an eye-opening campus tour and a fine dinner at one of the area’s top dining venues.
“The reunion exceeded my expectations, and I was happy to be a part of it,” reports Ken Klassen, co-organizer of the event with classmate Tracy Elop. Ken is a professor of taxation in the School of Accounting and Finance, and Tracy is CFO of KidsAbility Centre for Child Development in Kitchener, Ontario.
On the tour, alumni observed how dramatically things have changed. “It was great to visit the new School of Accounting and Finance building,” says Tracy, “and to understand how school life has changed.” Visiting a more familiar site had its own delights, she adds. “It was amusing to see everyone gravitate towards the seats they always occupied in Hagey Hall 138! It was very nostalgic, and it was nice to meet spouses too.”
Participation – and a challenge
The MAcc class of 1989 has already taken up the challenge. Tracy and Ken’s classmate Troy Maxwell, CFO of RBC Capital Markets, is taking the lead in encouraging his class to meet the challenge presented by the previous class. In only the short time since Homecoming, his class has already raised over $90,000 towards the Alumni Excellence Endowment Fund.
“I’m hoping everyone will give back as best they can.” says Troy. He urges them to see the project as an inspiration to other MAcc classes. So, is he issuing a challenge to those other classes? “Absolutely!”
While SAF alumni already enjoy a stellar reputation for giving back, this is the first time entire MAcc classes have stepped forward so dramatically, acting together to benefit the SAF for years to come.