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In the fall of 2002, Hobart and William Smith Colleges threw a party. The occasion was the largest donation in the history of the Colleges: a $15 million pledge. While the newly renamed William Scandling research vessel circled in Seneca Lake and the Geneva High School marching band paraded down South Main Street, party-goers laughed and talked at the president's house. Mr. Scandling spent his time talking with well-wishers and giving autographs. "I asked Bill Scandling to sign my hat and he did," said Trustee Katherine D. Elliott '66. "I still have that hat." It wasn't your average party, but Mr. Scandling wasn't your average person either. The celebration culminated a half century of giving (totaling more than $33 million), which has touched every corner of campus. The event, said President Mark Gearan, was "appropriate to his great sense of humor and to his warmth and love of people." For generations of people in the Colleges' community, this was Mr. Scandling's hallmark. In the eyes of former student trustee Ed Cooper '86, Mr. Scandling's personal warmth embodied how he viewed the Colleges. "It was like we were all a part of his family," Cooper remembers. Just as parents work to secure their children's future, Mr. Scandling dedicated a great portion of his life to aiding and guiding the Colleges' community, both on an institutional and personal level.
Mr. Scandling is remembered as the greatest benefactor in the Colleges' history. In a 1997 article in The Pulteney St. Survey, then Colleges' President Richard Hersh remarked, "Most colleges like ours have patron saints and guardian angels . Bill Scandling is in that category for us." "He wanted to be of real service to us," Hersh said recently. "He didn't want to be on the Board of Trustees because of his money. He used to tell me, 'You'll get my money either way.'" But the Colleges got far more than that. Mr. Scandling gave of himself, his time, talent and treasure, and in doing so left a lasting mark. Visitors from Mr. Scandling's Class of 1949, returning to the campus after a long absence, would be astounded by the scope of the Colleges' growth. But they would be even more amazed by the role that one individual played in that development. "Hobart and William Smith gave him the opportunity to start Saga," said friend Hector Petri '49. "He spent the rest of his life trying to repay that debt." Former Colleges President Carroll Brewster remembers Mr. Scandling's dedication to the welfare of the Colleges. "In all the time we worked together on the board he lived in California," Brewster said, "but he never missed a meeting. The Colleges were the center of his concern - we were his calling." At the beginning of Brewster's tenure, the dining facilities were in cramped quarters on the second floor of Gulick Hall. "It was an awful place," said Brewster, noting "each chair was occupied by five or six students per meal." Scandling dreamed of something better. Just as the Warren Hunting Smith Library had done, Scandling wanted a student center to serve as a meeting place while offering adequate dining facilities. Mara O'Laughlin '66, assistant vice president of the William Smith Centennial Campaign, remembers the ribbon-cutting ceremony in Scandling Center. "We walked into the Great Hall of Saga and there was this 'wow' moment from the crowd," she said. "It was as if we'd been put on some other planet, and it remains a facility second to none." In the years since its construction, Scandling Center has become one of the most vital buildings on campus, serving as the center for many activities. It is a building that ties the campus together, the central hub from which the spokes of academic life radiate out. Scandling Center, impressive as it is, is only one of many capital projects heavily indebted to Mr. Scandling's generosity. He was also a major backer of the library's construction, as well as Rosenberg Hall, which provided extensive new facilities for the sciences. Consequently, the Colleges' science program today is burgeoning with new talent and accomplishments. But Mr. Scandling's contributions to student life did not stop with academic projects. He was a generous member of both the Statesmen Athletic Association and the Heron Society and contributed to the Bristol and Winn-Seeley gymnasium capital campaigns. These were projects that not only had a long-term impact on athletics, but improved student life as a whole. Mr. Scandling even provided funds for the maintenance of existing buildings. His goodwill and generosity continually surprised and delighted everyone in the Colleges' community. "Financial constraints were never a problem when dealing with Mr. Scandling," said Hersh. "He would find a way to make it happen."
Mr. Scandling's company Saga was not just a corporation; it was an ideal, a way of working and living with other people. These tenets, which Mr. Scandling called the Saga Way, helped created a culture of compassion and service that had a powerful effect on the Colleges' community. Even today the "Saga of Saga," as Mr. Scandling called it, plays a powerful role in the way students envision their future. Jacob Boak '06 landed a job at the Alumni House as a first-year student and was emboldened by the Scandling story. His perspective on his own life began to change. "It gave me such a sense of relief that I could do anything," Boak remembers. "I think he was an entrepreneur in the truest sense of the word. He changed the face of this campus. His philanthropy was not an obligation. He wanted to give back." Mr. Scandling's passion for the Colleges' welfare often had an academic focus. While this sometimes led to institutional gifts - he was instrumental in leading the Class of 1949 to establish the John Milton Potter Professorship in the Humanities, for example - he was more likely to concentrate on helping individual students. In 1969, Mr. Scandling established a scholarship named in honor of Nat King Cole, a favorite musician. The gift was intended for the general population of students, honoring those with achievement and aiding those with needs. Mr. Scandling also helped to expand and strengthen existing scholarships, including the Walter Penk '49 Scholarship, the Classes of '60 Scholarship project, the L. Thomas Melly Trustee Scholarship, and the Richard H. Hersh Trustee Scholarship. Knowing how seriouly Mr. Scandling felt about scholarships, his friends and colleagues established one in honor of his second marriage in 1995. The Bill and Yvette Scandling Scholarship became a major source of aid for students and was later supported by Mr. Scandling himself. Without these scholarship opportunities, many individuals accepted to the Colleges would be unable to attend and the quality of the student population would suffer. Mr. Scandling recognized the importance of scholarship support to attract the best and brightest students, ensuring a successful and talented pool of alumni and alumnae for decades to come. Emily Runnells '08, a biology major, is a recent recipient of the Scandling Scholarship. "I would not be here and able to take advantage of all the opportunities that Hobart and William Smith have to offer if it were not for support from the school and generous donors such as the Scandling family," Runnells said. "This scholarship make a high caliber education a possibility for me, which in turn will have a profound impact on the rest of my life and hopefully many other people's lives as well."
Nicole Dudley'07, who is pursuing a degree in environmental studies also recieved the Scandling Scholarship. "The scholarship was an honor to receive," she said. "Knowing that my hard work here at the Colleges has paid off gives me a sense of pleasure, and a desire to continue to work hard." Mr. Scandling's easy humor and magnetic personality dominate the memories of many in the Colleges' community. Katherine Elliott first met Mr. Scandling when she joined the Board of Trustees in 1997. "His friendly teasing of board members just magical," she said. "I was impressed and immediately understood that these people know and love each other. I consider him my mentor and my inspiration in giving to the Colleges," Elliott said. "He was wonderfully generous and inspirational. When you were around him, you knew you were in the presence of something special. He had a great sense of humor." Former Vice President for Institutional Advancement Charles Haight remembers the unorthodox but effective way Mr. Scandling rallied alums to the cause. "During one of our capital campaigns," Haight said, "we were struggling to get the attention of some alumni and alumnae in lower New York state." Mr. Scandling had an idea. He sailed his yacht, the Seneca, up to Manhattan and hosted a week-long series of parties and get-togethers. "There are few alums who wouldn't go out of their way to spend time with him," said Haight. The rest of the capital campaign was a success. For Mr. Scandling, this was just another day at the office. His business relationships were just that, relationships, and he valued a personal connection to the people he worked with. "He had to know them, he had to trust them, and he had to have fun with them," Haight said. Economics Professor Pat McGuire observed: "One contribution of Bill Scandling that might be overlooked is, of course, his role in the lives of our students. Here was the central core of his work and dedication to the Colleges. Thousands of our students bene. ted from his generosity and they, above all else, were his major concern." "He was my mentor," said former student trustee Cooper, "not just in matters that the board considered, but in everything. He was very encouraging throughout graduate school and beyond. It was like the com-munity and the Colleges became part of his extended family." Scandling took the time to speak or correspond with students whenever he could. Nicole Lemperle '03 remembers receiving a letter from Mr. Scandling about an article she had written while studying in London during the 9/11 terror attacks. "I was a member of The Herald staff at the time," Lemperle said. "And one way that I decided to reach out to the people at home was by writing an article about what it was like to experience 9/11 while in London. When I ar-rived back home from England in December, I found among the four months worth of mail a personal letter from Mr. Scandling." "Like everyone else in America," Scandling wrote, "I have read numerous reports on that day. They have recounted mant different experiences and reactions, but none has moved me as much as yours. It brought tears to my eyes and to those of the many others to whom I showed it." "The letter touched me," Lemperle said. ". I keep it as a reminder of how connected each generation is. Mr. Scandling donated a great deal of money and time to the Colleges, but his greatest gift to me was a personal letter and an expression of caring for the students on campus." As a leader with experience and vision, Mr. Scandling had no peer. Hersh remembers the wisdom he brought to the board. "He was the elder statesman," said Hersh. "He took a long perspective and gathered all the facts before making any decisions."
Scandling as "very engaged and very experienced." "He had a deep understanding of governance and he gave me great counsel. I have greatly benefited from his decades of experience throughout my tenure." Mr. Scandling availed himself to generations of the Colleges' best administrators, and he was determined to set an example - both in leadership and personal philanthropy. "Since joining the Board of Trustees," he wrote, "my interest in the Colleges has steadily increased and I have begun to realize that the future of the Colleges depends in no small part on the generosity of those of us who have benefited by our association with them." Mr. Scandling laid the foundation of financial health and well-being. Under his leadership, the Colleges became more financially stable, recovering an "A" rating from Standard and Poor's in 2003. If Mr. Scandling had been less friendly, kind or gracious, he would be remembered for his fortune and little else. But that was not him. He never expected others to laud his accomplishments. He simply lived the life he was called to, taking joy in the fact that his resources were as big as his heart. In some ways it may be a disservice to paint Mr. Scandling as a great philanthropist. It is not philanthropic to help one's family. It was just that he had a bigger family than most, an extended kinship with the entire Colleges' community. He gave because he could not imagine otherwise. At their 1995 wedding, Bill and Yvette were treated to a stream of memories, jokes and thoughts. One anonymous Class of 1994 alumna left a particularly poignant note. "To us," she wrote, "Marriott is a hotel somewhere. The people who feed us are 'Saga.' Always have been, always will be." Mr. Scandling helped nourish the Colleges literally and . guratively his entire adult life, and created a legacy that will continue despite his physical absence. "In the history of institutions," Gearan said, "there are moments when one person can make a transformative difference. Bill Scandling's contributions are beyond philanthropy. At Hobart and William Smith, he built a culture of caring and community. Many people have built up institutions, but few have built an entire ethos that continues to this day."
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