Right
now, today, UB is brimming with possibilities. Over the last century
and a half, the university has grown into one of the premier research
institutions in the northeastern United States, and now enjoys
an increasing national and international reputation.
To
help UB achieve its tremendous potential and promise, the university
is embarking on a Campaign to raise the funds needed to take
UB to a new level of greatness.
In
this special issue of UB Today, we’ll explore some of the university’s
most notable achievements and the exciting possibilities that
lie ahead. More important, we’ll see UB through the eyes of
its alumni and friends. For each person who has attended UB,
there are personal dreams, cherished memories and noteworthy
successes. In this special Campaign section, you’ll share some
of those life events and celebrate the wonderful accomplishments
of alumni young and old.
UB
has an almost infinite capacity to reinvent itself, to embrace
the myriad possibilities of a diverse group of students and
alumni—now more than 150,000 strong—in an ever-changing world.
Each generation, each graduating class, every student has left
a lasting imprint on the university’s traditions and history.
Some
of their stories are found in the following pages. We hope these
voices remind us all that, through our support for UB and the
Campaign, each of us can renew our own dreams and possibilities
while at the same time helping future generations of UB students
realize theirs.
THE
STORIES
Stories
are an age-old way to make sense of existence, to reconcile
random occurrences and planned events, to interpret the past
and better imagine the future.
When
UB development officers started talking with alumni and friends
about their perceptions of the University at Buffalo today
in preparation for The Campaign for UB, they noticed a distinct
and common thread. Even when they took a few minutes to complain—"Where
have you been? We haven't heard from you lately!"—these
expressions of disaffection quickly dissolved into richly
varied tales of how these friends remember the University
at Buffalo (or, for older alumni, the University of Buffalo).
As the stories came tumbling out, the UB development staff
collected more than 200 tales over a three-year period—a
collection that is still growing. Bruce Jackson, SUNY Distinguished
Professor of English and a student of storytelling, served
as inspirational guide to both storytellers and story-gatherers.
