The John Dewey Circle Dinner is an annual "thank you" from the College to its leadership donors to the TC Fund, who contributed $1000 or more to TC's Annual Fund.

Vice President for Development Joseph Brosnan hosted this year's sixth annual Dewey Dinner event and thanked the group for its support and commitment to unrestricted funding through TC's Annual Fund. At its commencement, the Fund totaled $600,000. Now, it totals $1.3 million.

Dewey Circle members who make a yearly gift of $10,000 are honored annually by having a TC Fund scholarship recipient named for them. Those who give $25,000 or more annually have two scholars named for them.

Alumna Christina Davis, who has chaired the Dewey Network for the past two years, noted that the fundraising goal of the Dewey Circle this past year was exceeded by $210,000. Davis, former member of the Alumni Council who received her M.A. in curriculum and teaching, added that of all the donations to the Annual Fund, 68 percent come from Dewey Circle gifts.

Former chair of the Dewey Circle Network and National Chair of the TC Fund from 1997 to 1999 and TC alumna, Pat Nicholson, was presented with The John Dewey Leadership Award. President Arthur Levine read the citation for the award, noting that under Nicholson's leadership, "the TC Fund raised more than $1,375,000 for the 2000 fiscal year, breaking the million dollar mark for three consecutive years, and representing a 17 percent increase over last year."

He spoke about the things that their gifts allow the college to do. "We get wonderful students at TC, and you make it possible," he said. Revenue from the TC Fund has also contributed to programs the College is involved in throughout the city. It has allowed the College, Levine added, "to put the campus into cyberspace with the potential to raise the largest attendance we could ever reach."

The TC Fund has also supported renovation efforts, such as the addition of a ramp for people with disabilities at the Main Hall entrance.

Institutes such as the First-Year Teachers Program, which helped a particular school in Brooklyn lower its new teacher attrition rate from 65 percent to 10 percent, also benefited from gifts to the TC Fund. In addition, research on educational issues such as high-stakes testing, privatization, charter schools and vouchers, as well as the benefits of art education is made possible by these funds.

Published Wednesday, Jul. 17, 2002