"The music industry is hard to break into - being a Baruch student is such an advantage because I can combine my music degree with business and also be in the city, with access to so many opportunities. My dad is a professional guitar player and singer, and my mom, who also went to Baruch, is in marketing. I started playing the trumpet in elementary school, and have played in a pit band for school musicals and community groups as well as worked behind the scenes, in management and production. I’ve always liked being involved in both the performing and business sides.

Meeting Debbie Bernstein and developing a connection with her has given me a greater appreciation of the scholarship. It’s motivating to hear that she also has had her struggles, and about what she’s been able to do herself. To have her support, both financial and personal, and to know she genuinely believes in me is huge."

"My father was a building porter, and my mother a maintenance worker at Bank of America for many years. At the time of my college decision, they didn’t have enough money. One of the biggest blessings of my life has been the Harnisch scholarship. I worked throughout college to help out with bills at home and to increase my experience. I was chosen for a sales and trading internship at a renowned bank where I was then offered a job after graduation. My mother had told me years before that she wanted to see me in a profession similar to that of the people she worked for. So what better place to begin my career than the same place she got started? The Harnisch family and their generosity has allowed me to find myself academically, socially, and spiritually."

Practicing Compassion at Home and Abroad

“My mother came to New York from El Salvador to stay safe from the civil war that had been going on for 12 years. I was born in New York, and shortly after that the El Salvador peace agreements were signed. We returned to our country, to San Salvador, where my mother raised me while finishing her medical degree from the National University in El Salvador.

When it came time for me to go to college, I knew I wanted to return to New York to study economic development. My hope was that I could one day help developing countries like El Salvador. But my parents didn’t have the means—my mother has been working for many years in impoverished and rural areas, providing medical attention and health campaigns. I came anyway, on my own. I lived with relatives for a short time, and got a scholarship to attend Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC), before transferring to Baruch in my sophomore year.

At first, I wasn’t sure how I could continue at school. I thought I might have to take a few semesters off to save the money, to delay graduating. But the Baruch Financial Aid Office helped connect me with the London Family Scholarship, which I received for two years. It meant a lot to me: I don’t even know the London family, yet somehow they believed in me and saw my potential. It helped me not only with school but also with being able to find housing and live on my own.

The scholarship gave me more confidence in the reasons that I came to study economic development in the first place, and it allowed me to focus on school. I got to work as a research assistant to Professor Sean Crockett, who is conducting a study of behavioral economics. And I was also able to work through the admissions office as an admissions ambassador at the Welcome Center, helping students and their families at events such as Open House.

Now I’ve graduated and am currently working on my Master’s in economics. To be able to do research for international organizations and nonprofits, to bring new ideas to developing countries, such as El Salvador—that is still my goal. The London scholarship helped to make this possible, giving me the important financial and emotional support to make it this far. I’m so grateful.”

“The opportunities I’ve had have been made possible by the people who give back, emotionally, strategically, financially, starting with my parents, who are community leaders in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I’ve watched my parents raising money for the GED programs for teen parents they are involved in, and it got me interested in how you grow a business. At 14, I was part of Norman Thomas High School, in the bookkeeping program, learning accounting, but wanting to learn more about finance.

Because of Joan Lieberman’s gift of a scholarship, and of her encouragement and support, I have had the opportunity to dig deep and meet professionals in my field. I got to take part in Beta Alpha Psi, the honors fraternity for accounting and finance students, I launched a start-up with a tech-savvy Baruch alum, and I did internships. Merrill-Lynch, where I interned in investment, offered me a job upon graduation.

Now I’m hosting weekly coffee chats with freshmen and sophomores to help them figure things out academically and professionally.”

CPA and consultant Ed Ruzinsky (’54) and his brothers in the fraternity Alpha Phi Omega endowed the APO Memorial scholarship to support deserving students and continue the APO mission of service and leadership.

“I’ve been involved in Alpha Phi Omega since I joined in my freshman year at Baruch. The fraternity is based on the principles of leadership, friendship, and service. We ran a book exchange, a blood drive, everything to do with service. We sponsored a Korean student after the Korean War. It was an incredible group of brothers, and all these years later, we’re still friends. And many of us have had great success. One was a city councilman, another a judge, and there are a number of lawyers and CPAs.

At my fiftieth reunion, in 2004, a group of us APO brothers got together and agreed that it was time to form a scholarship. We had all gone to college and had a free ride, and it was time to give back. We started small, but now we’ve raised about $300,000. Guys came out of the woodwork to give. Our payback is the satisfaction of knowing that the recipients may or may not know us, but they have the feeling that there are people out there who are willing to help. These students may not come from families with the financial ability to do that, but they do come with a great capacity and willingness to learn. Holdyn Brand, one of our scholarship students from a few years ago, once said, ‘Because you believe in me and my ability to succeed, failure is simply not an option.’ It was very emotional for us.

Having this bond with our brothers in APO is something we also want to pass on. The Gamma Delta chapter at Baruch has been rechartered, and we alumni want to start a mentoring program, professionally and personally, with new members. We’re happy to see that bonding happening in the next generation.”

"Helping students have the college experience, through funding scholarships, is so rewarding. It’s about making real connections. When I meet with the students or receive their letters, the stories they tell me are beautiful and heartfelt. We’re not talking about young men and women who are financially on the borderline. We’re talking about people whose very lives change because of what we’re able to give.

"Creating opportunity by giving access to education is one of the most rewarding investments you will ever make. Baruch continues to serve a uniquely diverse community where not privilege but hard work, honest commitment, and perseverance lead to success. Today it is up to us to recognize and reward these values and foster them in talented, engaged individuals. Our involvement is needed, and has a tremendous leverage."

"I wanted to do something for Baruch and other students like me—to give back through a scholarship.

This year I have eight scholarship students. It means a lot to me to go to the school to meet them and to see all the changes at Baruch. There’s a greater diversity now. In my scholarship group alone, there are students with families from Poland, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and Ethiopia. Students like Fathia Adams are gregarious and know what they want. It’s enlightening, because what they want are the same things students like me wanted 50 years ago—a good education, and a chance at a good life."

“Connecting with Baruch College has been one of life’s amazing coincidences. And it started because my mother, Ruth Rubin, worked for Bernard Baruch during the early 1940s to ’50s, as a top administrative assistant. In addition to working out of his office in New York, and at meetings and Congressional hearings, she accompanied him to countless events, including meeting Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt at the White House. She was even at the inaugural of Baruch College. Being with Mr. Baruch, my mother said, was like being with a rock star.

After my mother died, in 2010, I decided to donate to the College all of the documents and photos of the Baruch years she’d saved. When I came to Baruch for the meeting, a light bulb went on! I was so impressed with the energy at the school and with the great mix of students of many races and nationalities that I knew I wanted to donate more than simply these documents. My family truly believed in education and that giving is one of the most important things in life. Suddenly, funding a scholarship just made sense, especially in my mother’s name.

It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done. Fate pushed me in this direction, and it has been a great confluence. My mother would approve 100 percent.”