2023 Scholarship Brunch

On Saturday, Apr. 29, at 10 a.m. SUNY Geneseo hosted its annual Scholarship Brunch. This is the first time the Scholarship Brunch was hosted since before the COVID-19 pandemic. This brunch, organized by Rachel Sluberski who is the Director of Donor Relations, provided\s an opportunity for donors and scholarship recipients to connect and further encourage engagement. 

This event was moderated by John Gleason, who is the Geneseo Foundation Chair and a class of 1987 Geneseo graduate. He opened the event with a greeting and by welcoming all of the guests. Gleason then introduced the Geneseo Chamber Singers, most of whom also were scholarship recipients. The Chamber Singers sang two pieces that were beautifully arranged which reflects their many accomplishments from this year. One such accomplishment that is upcoming is their tour of Italy this summer. After their performance, the Singers joined the other attendees for brunch.

There were three speakers at this event who all represented different levels of involvement regarding scholarships. The first speaker was President Denise Battles who opened the event with a thank you directed toward both the attending donors and students. 

Battles then introduced third-year sociomedical sciences and communications double major Kaitlin Anzalone. Anzalone is a current student and scholarship recipient who was asked to speak on behalf of the student body about her experiences and how receiving scholarships impacted her college experience.

Anzalone was followed by alumni Kathy Baron, class of 1983, who serves as a member on the Geneseo Foundation Board. Baron spoke on her past experiences at SUNY Geneseo and how she was impacted by not only the scholarships she received, but also how serving on the board has allowed her to stay involved with Geneseo life.

After the three speakers, Gleason released the attendees for brunch which included coffee, eggs, and sausage. This also gave students the opportunity to share their campus experiences with their donors and gave donors the opportunity to share pieces of advice with their scholarship recipients.

After the event, Anzalone stated: “This was a wonderful opportunity to not only to speak to a large group about the [organizations] I am involved with, but also to meet some of the people that made the scholarships I received a possibility.” 

Geneseo hopes to continue the tradition of the Scholarship Brunch to ensure donors know the profound impact their donations have on Geneseo students.