{"id":1465,"date":"2023-10-09T10:44:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T14:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2023-10-09T10:44:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T14:44:53","slug":"seizing-the-day-for-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/2023\/10\/09\/seizing-the-day-for-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Seizing the Day for Tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Members of ÌÇÐÄvlog\u2019s Carpe Diem Society gathered on Oct. 4 for a recognition luncheon, held at the graduate lounge in the Feliciano School of Business. The event brought alumni, former faculty, loyal donors and friends back to campus to enjoy lunch and a performance by students from the Musical Theatre program.<\/p>\n

The Carpe Diem Society recognizes the University\u2019s legacy giving community for its commitment to advance Montclair by establishing gifts through their wills, life insurance policies, retirement designations, trusts or other gift plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are here today to celebrate you, for shaping the University\u2019s future and making us part of your family,\u201d said Ely Santoni Tuero, senior director of Gift Planning.<\/p>\n

Rita Walters, vice president for Development and Alumni Engagement, welcomed guests, sharing, \u201cYou\u2019ve promised to keep our mission strong by investing in future students\u2026 and I thank you deeply.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot be who we are meant to be without you,\u201d said Walters.<\/p>\n

\"Small
Professor Emerita and Carpe Diem Society member Maria Schantz \u201960 MA poses with students and Theatre and Dance department faculty and staff.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

President Jonathan Koppell provided updates on University highlights and reinforced the value of investing in something that will persist beyond our lifetimes. \u201cThank you for making the choice to create something that endures\u2026and allows people to realize their potential,\u201d said Koppell. \u201cI appreciate your commitment to this institution and your view that this is something that is worthy of that investment and that commitment.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added a special thank you to the many former faculty members who are part of the Carpe Diem Society, acknowledging how much they\u2019ve already given to the University through their passion to serve students and their contributions to building Montclair\u2019s culture of excellence.<\/p>\n

Alumna Claudia Ko \u201916, \u201918 MA, who earned a bachelor\u2019s in Spanish and a master\u2019s in Educational Leadership, shared how her Montclair experience improved her life, saying, \u201cthe merit scholarship that connected me to Montclair was like a one-way ticket to my favorite destination.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Woman
Alumna Claudia Ko \u201916, \u201918 MA tells the audience that their generosity will be \u201ca game changer for many.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThanks to you, the Montclair my aunt attended was fantastic, the Montclair I attended was fantastic, and the one my sister attended was even more fantastic,\u201d said Ko, describing Montclair\u2019s commitment to serve each and every student and \u201cprovide an avenue for all.\u201d Ko now works as an associate district manager for ADP, serving small businesses.<\/p>\n

Accompanied by pianist Alexander Tom, musical supervisor in the Musical Theatre BFA program, students from the College of the Arts performed the selections \u201cYou Shine\u201d from Carrie<\/em>, \u201cLove Is An Open Door\u201d from Frozen<\/em>, and \u201cFine\u201d from Ordinary Days<\/em>. Students who performed were: Ahmeer Bethea, Shannon Bretz, Caroline Desmarais, Mia Grizzuti, Diogo Ramirez and Anthony Savino.<\/p>\n

More than 150 donors are part of the Carpe Diem Society, having informed the University that they\u2019ve included ÌÇÐÄvlog in their estate plans.<\/p>\n

Find out more about the Carpe Diem Society<\/a> and view photos<\/a> of the event.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carpe Diem Society holds recognition luncheon to honor members\u2019 commitment to Montclair\u2019s future <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montclair-state-university-donors"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1465"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1470,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions\/1470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/giving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}