Al Checcio, vice president of university relations, will leave AU this month after helping launch the school's most ambitious fundraising campaign ever and doubling the percentage of alumni who donate to the university.
Checcio will take a similar position at Fordham University in New York, and his former duties will be divided among AU departments until the next president names a replacement.
The $200 million "A New AU" initiative has progressed halfway to its goal in the two years since it started, and alumni participation in fundraising shot from 9 percent when Checcio arrived five years ago to 20 percent today. That figure brings AU closer to the national average of 24 percent for comparable schools, Checcio said.
Checcio is leaving just two months after the school's most infamous fundraiser, former President Benjamin Ladner, was ousted for misspending university money on personal expenses. Many donors would stay committed to the school despite leadership changes, Checcio said.
"I'm a firm believer that whether it's a president or the vice president of development or a dean, we're sort of a conduit," he said. "People don't give to us, they give through us to the institution."
He said his decision to switch schools has nothing to do with Ladner's ouster.
"When the position was offered, after really a lot of thought and internal debate, I decided for me personally it was the right next move," Checcio said. "A number of people have interpreted this as an anti-AU move, and it's not at all."
Calling all fundraisers
As trustees look to permanently fill both the president's and the vice president's spots, the focus will be on fundraising. The ability to raise money is an obvious criterion for the head of university relations, but now presidents must have mastered the skill as well.
"It has become increasingly an expectation of presidents. More and more [potential] presidents are being asked about fundraising skills in the interview process," said Rae Goldsmith, vice president of communications for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, a professional group for school fundraisers.
"If someone isn't comfortable fundraising, I would say that person doesn't really have a good chance at getting the job," she said.
The administration decided the next president will pick the person to fill Checcio's spot because the two officials work closely together.
"I think for a vice president of development, the relationship with the president is very special, almost unique," said Interim President Neil Kerwin, who plans to spend about half of his time fundraising in the spring.
Ladner's lingering effects
It remains to be seen whether the negative publicity over Ladner will dampen fundraising progress or pose a challenge to the next vice president. The effects will become clearer in the coming months, Checcio said, but some statistics show early signs of trouble.
The approximately 4,000 alumni who made their first donations last year have largely declined to give again. Checcio reported to trustees in November that "this group will be one of the toughest to win back."
Giving is habitual, Checcio later explained, so alumni who are not in the habit of donating might be more inclined to hold back in light of the recent controversy.
One such alumnus, 1997 graduate Gayle Kansagor Hope, said she wrestled with the decision to donate this year because news of Ladner's misspending made her wary of the university's money management.
"I'm having difficulties trying to decide what to do this year because I don't like the idea of giving to an organization that isn't putting its donations to good use," she said. "Ultimately, I believe that I will likely give to AU because I care about the university's future."
In the wake of the bad press about Ladner, AU fundraisers said they will reassure donors their money is well spent and the university is in a strong financial position overall. The money Ladner abused did not come from donations, Checcio said.
Donors "shouldn't have a moment's hesitation or worry ... that their money is going to go exactly where they ask it to," Kerwin said.
Donation rates for the approximately 6,200 alumni who have given for two or more consecutive years, however, remain stable, and there were about 640 more alumni donors this October than last.
Reorganizing university relations
Abbey Silberman, who will take over many of Checcio's former duties as senior director of development, said her focus is to keep the momentum going during the interim period.
Her expertise is research and analysis, and she plans to run a study in the coming months to determine the most effective way to finish out the A New AU campaign. This type of study would include interviews with a few dozen donors to determine their attitudes about contributing to AU.
"That's something that we would be doing regardless of the situation" with Ladner, Silberman said. Such studies are usually done at the beginning, middle and end of major fundraising campaigns, she said.
She said she is confident that potential donors will understand that despite the former president's ouster, the rest of AU is still strong.
"As serious and as heartfelt as I know that concerns are that are being raised" by donors about money management at the school, "I believe that the sky is not falling."
Other parts of Checcio's job have been reorganized. The Athletics Department will report directly to Kerwin, as in some other universities, and Kerwin's chief of staff, David Taylor, will take over marketing and publications.
The former fundraisers
In the wake of Ladner's dismissal, some donors debate his role in AU's fundraising success. The endowment grew from $36 million when he arrived in 1994 to $280 million now.
For Cyrus Katzen, whose name graces the new Katzen Arts Center and who has donated more than $25 million to AU, Ladner was crucial in sealing the deal.
"You've got to have someone who puts up a nice front and convinces people, like me, to give these donations," Katzen said. "I think he was very instrumental in working with me" on the Katzen Center.
But for alumni donor Samara Aberman Thery, '97, Checcio made the difference.
"I would rather they had given the three-point-whatever-million dollars to Al to stay than to Ladner to leave," she said, referring to Ladner's $3.75 million severance package.
