March 30, 1994

2-Year Colleges Campaign for Alumni Dollars

With other sources of support in jeopardy, some institutions plan aggressive efforts

By Robert L. Jacobson

The people who ran the alumni "phonathon" at Mohawk Valley Community College in 1990 never found out which student made the fateful call, but there was no mistaking the result: $300,000 for the college's merit-scholarship program.

It remains the largest alumni gift in Mohawk Valley's 47-year history. James M. Kiernan, the director of development, doubts that the contribution would have been made had it not been for the college's periodic ritual of calling up former students and asking