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  • January 11, 2012
  • Lisa Eikenburg
Hefner and Gibbs
Dennis Hefner, left, with Alumni Board President Greg Gibbs in front of the Alumni House. 

 

Dear Alumni and Friends,

For the last few years, President Dennis Hefner and I have shared the authorship of this letter. However in this, his final issue at the helm, I thought it would be appropriate to be the sole author, and share the alumni association’s perspective as to what he has meant to SUNY Fredonia and its graduates.

Dennis Hefner has been a regular attendee of our Alumni Board meetings. He has shared with us his vision and thoughts on the university. He’s led in such a way that we all wanted to embrace his vision of Fredonia and become an active part of that journey. Regardless of what year each of us graduated, he has helped us all feel like an active part of the campus ethos that is fresh and alive today.

Dr. Hefner was responsible for securing both the Alumni House and the Foundation House as operations bases, and has further helped them become campus landmarks over the years and gathering places for generations of graduates.

The Alumni Association has enjoyed a long and personal connection with President Hefner. He has helped us grow and remain a vital part of the university’s connection from its past to its future. He was a mainstay at every Homecoming Weekend, and made numerous trips to alumni reunions across the world. We have all felt a kinship with Dennis, and that has made us united in our hopes and dreams for SUNY Fredonia.

So many campus projects have been accomplished in the Hefner years: the Cranston- Marché, the revitalization of the Williams Center, the new Science Center, University Stadium, the Campus and Community Children’s Center, the new Robert and Marilyn Maytum Music Rehearsal Halls, the renovation of Maytum Hall, the natatorium and additions to Dods Hall, the Technology Incubator in downtown Dunkirk – all are lasting monuments to President Dennis Hefner’s vision for the campus, and his ability to persuade and be a successful financier of these projects in tough economic times.

On behalf of all alumni, I would like to wish him and his wife, Jan, the very best as they begin the new chapter in their lives that they have so deservedly earned, and we send along a heartfelt “thank you” for helping SUNY Fredonia become the prestigious university that it is today.

Sincerely,
Greg K. Gibbs, Ph.D. President, Fredonia Alumni Association

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