March 23 is Falcons Forward, Bentley’s biggest giving day! This year, faculty and staff are challenged to surpass last year’s total with a goal of reaching 350 faculty and staff donors. Community members can make a gift of any size to the fund that means the most to them with choices ranging from first generation success and multicultural center programs to varsity athletics and club sports.

If Falcons Forward reaches its goal of 1,917 total donors by the end of the day, we will unlock a generous $100,000 gift from trustee Brian Zino ’74! Last year’s Falcons Forward giving day saw 1,819 community community members raise an impressive $483,000. To surpass last year’s total, various challenges have been posed to the community in order to spread the word and raise awareness of the importance of making a gift on March 23.

“Falcons Forward is about building a culture of giving from the entire Bentley community,” says Executive Director of Annual Giving and Advancement Relations Allison Kerivan. “As faculty and staff, we can demonstrate our support for the mission of Bentley and our leadership by making a gift — whatever is meaningful to you.”

To promote the significance of the day, engagement opportunities will be set up across campus on Thursday, with events including visits from Flex across campus and stations in LaCava and the Student Center set up with snacks and donuts throughout the day.

While there are many reasons to give, it's the reward of seeing students succeed that inspires many at Bentley to donate during Falcons Forward. “Our students are amazing,” says Lecturer in Accounting and alumna Lynn Wolf ’88, MBA ’00. “Any way that we can help them succeed is great. As an alum, it’s truly amazing to see what they’re capable of, what they’re thinking about and how forward thinking they are. Any resources we have that can help them be the best that they can be at Bentley and beyond is greatly appreciated.”

“This is an opportunity for us to come together as a community and give back and show support,” says Director of New Student Programs and Services Bobbi-Lynn Kekic. “We all know how important it is to take care of one another, and this is a great way to do that.”

In addition to the $100,000 that will be unlocked once Falcons Forward reaches the 1,917 donor mark, a number of other challenges have been posed by community members who are eager to promote engagement and inspire others across the entire Bentley community to donate.

• $25,000 will be unlocked from the Global Alumni Board after 800 alumni make a donation. 
• Angelo G. Manioudakis ’88 and Melani Cammett will match up to $10,000 in donations made to the new First Generation Student Success Fund.
• Athletics Director Vaughn Williams has challenged each team to promote donating during Falcons Forward, with various prizes for the varsity team and club team with the most funds raised. 
• An anonymous donor and baseball alumnus will match every dollar up to $50,000 donated to Bentley Baseball.
• A number of coaches have challenged their players and alumni to donate to their team's causes.  

No matter the size of the gift, all participation during Falcons Forward will play an important role in supporting Bentley’s most important stakeholders, our students. “We see daily the impact philanthropy has on our students — scholarships and financial aid; athletic support; programs led by the Multicultural Center and Center for Women and Business; the Student Hardship Fund or First Gen Student Success Fund,” explains Allison. “Our contributions allow for our Falcons to have the best student experience!” 

At the end of the day, faculty and staff are invited to celebrate the success of Falcons Forward at the Pub Night on March 23 from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. in the Faculty and Staff Dining Room. 

Make sure to do your part to help faculty and staff exceed the goal of 350 donors by making your gift on Falcons Forward! A gift of any amount will help to show the community that faculty and staff are dedicated to supporting student success in and out of the classroom. 

You can make a gift in advance using the portal below! 

Make a Gift to Support Falcons Forward

As the month draws to a close, there are still plenty of opportunities to recognize and celebrate Women’s History Month on campus. Be sure to check out the remaining events as another successful Women’s History Month concludes.

Corporate Board Quotas and Gender Equality Polices in the Workplace
March 27 | 12:30 p.m. | LIN30 or virtually
Do corporate board quotas increase attention to gender equality in the workplace? In this talk, Professor Weeks will discuss her recent research on the impact of a gender quota law on companies’ gender equality policies, which compares cases from Italy and Greece. Professor Weeks will also draw connections between the effects of corporate board quotas and political gender quota laws.

Americanah Community Discussion
March 28 | 3:30 p.m. | Student Center, Gender and Sexuality Student Lounge or virtually
Join the community for a discussion on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s National Bestselling novel Americanah. This book club discussion will dive into key themes in the novel which include love, racism, change, identity and grief.

Men as Allies Summit
March 29 | 2:00 p.m. | LaCava 325ABC
This year’s Men as Allies Summit features a panel of experienced leaders who will discuss what it means to practice allyship across genders within the workplace. Community members of all genders are invited to attend!

Trans Day of Visibility
March 31 | 2:00 p.m. | Student Center, Gender and Sexuality Student Lounge
Stop by to honor the Trans Day of Visibility and to build community! 

Women’s History Month Closing Gathering
March 31 | 4:00 p.m. | LaCava 325
Join the community and members of the Women’s History Month Working Group for a celebration to wrap up the month of events!

Each week, the Faculty and Staff Dining Room in LaCava is bustling with colleagues catching up over lunch or enjoying a meal together during a meeting. But did you know that the dining room includes a family table aimed at bringing community members together? Professor of Management Iris Berdrow, who was involved in the 2015 redesign of the space, wants to make sure that faculty and staff know about this special opportunity to connect over a shared meal.

“As someone involved in the redesign, I asked that there be a larger table set up near the entrance for any and all that did not have a meeting,” remarked Iris. Iris noted that over the years, some have felt as if the large table in the dining room is private or invitation only, but she assures the community that it is anything but and is open to all. 

In 2018, the table was dedicated to longtime community member Professor Emeritus of Law and Taxation Joseph Newpol, who was a regular at the table for years and still stops by for lunch on occasion. A plaque bearing his name now hangs behind the family table to serve as a reminder of the importance of welcoming friends old and new to the conversation at the table.  

Iris and her peers invite you to join whoever may be sitting at the table next time you stop by the third floor of LaCava for lunch.

“I won’t promise the conversation will be serious, but it will be friendly,” said Iris before adding that, “Bentley is a family.”
 

Learning and Development is proud to announce that Bentley has expanded our membership with the training platform Academic Impressions to provide all faculty, staff and students with access to resources centered on leadership and professional development.

With this new tool, faculty and staff can access hundreds of hours of online training from subject matter experts who have hands-on experience in areas including diversity, equity and inclusion; leadership and supervision; women in leadership; student success; faculty success; advancement and much more.

Academic Impressions is free to use for all members of the community and can be accessed with your Bentley username and password at the link below. To learn more about Academic Impressions, be sure to tune in to an open house Zoom session on March 29 and April 6! 

Zoom Open Houses with Academic Impressions 

March 29, 2023 at 2:00 p.m.
Meeting ID: 963 919 2631

April 6, 2023 at 10:00 a.m.
Meeting ID: 963 919 2631

Access Academic Impressions

Mary Huminski Selected as a CSC Division II Academic All-America
The junior has been selected to the NCAA Division II Women's Swimming and Diving Academic All-America® third team, as selected by the College Sports Communicators. 

Two Men's Basketball Players Selected for NABC All-District Honors
Zach Laput and Matt Leritz, a duo who helped the Falcons to a 23-7 record and the NCAA Division II East Regional championship game, have been selected for 2022-23 NABC Division II All-East honors by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Eddy Beauregard Named Northeast-10 Baseball Player of the Week 
First baseman and pitcher Eddy Beauregard has been named the Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Player of the Week following an outstanding week of performances in Florida.