Barnard Scholarship Gala Raises Close to $1.7 Million

In what could have been her final public appearance as Barnard’s president, Judith Shapiro sang happy birthday in Portuguese to a roomful of Barnard donors at Monday’s 2008 scholarship gala and auction.

The dinner honored Shapiro and trustee Diana Vagelos, BC ’55. Vagelos and her husband recently gave $20 million towards the Nexus building, making her the donor of Barnard’s largest gift ever. The building will be named after her.

Entitled “Barnard: A Night on the Town,” the gala was held on Pier 60 to raise money for scholarships through auctions—silent, live, and online, which is ongoing until June 28. This year, the gala raised close to $1.7 million.

A familiar face to most Barnard women, Anna Quindlen, journalist and trustee, opened the ceremony. “We shape the women who will shape the world,” Quindlen said, lauding Shapiro for her “14-year run on Broadway.” Quindlen introduced actor Chevy Chase, who served as master of ceremonies.

“Even I knew growing up that Barnard was the top women’s college in the country, and will continue to be with my help,” Chase said. Chase said his daughter is a rising Barnard sophomore. “This should take care of any money I have to give this year … I was hoping I could maybe get an honorary degree in a couple of years without having to pay a lot of dough.”

Before the auction, a video honoring Shapiro and Vagelos was displayed. In the video, students spoke of the importance of financial aid, Vagelos spoke about her heritage and Barnard’s future, and Shapiro was shown in her apartment shaking an apparently famous martini and walking her dog, Nora.

“You should have heard my three daughters on Vagelos on the way here. ‘I’m in the Vag building,’ they said,” Chase said shortly before the live auction.

Harmer Johnson administered the live auction. Prizes included an opera package, a golf event, a fashion package, a ski trip, front row seats to a Billy Joel concert, and a vacation in Arizona. At $20,000, the highest bid of the evening went to the privilege of naming a character in Quindlen’s next novel. When the bidding for that prize skyrocketed, Quindlen said she would allow the high bidder to name two characters.

Quindlen presented Vagelos with the Frederick A.P. Barnard award, an inscribed broach. “All of us who know you not only respect you,” Quindlen said. “We love you from the bottom of our hearts.” Vagelos, wearing a yellow flower, accepted the award and gave a special greeting to the members of her class of 1955.

Quindlen then introduced Shapiro as the recipient of the Margaret Mead award, lauding Shapiro’s leadership and anthropological accomplishments. “You have helped us look at the world through the large lens of an anthropologist,” Quindlen said, rattling off Shapiro’s accomplishments such as instituting the Nine Ways of Knowing and overseeing the development of a new master plan for the campus. Quindlen announced the endowment of the Judith R. Shapiro Scholarship for a student studying anthropology.

When Shapiro marched on stage in her long sequined dress, she stole and reversed Chase’s signature Saturday Night Live line: “I am Judith Shapiro, and you are not.”

Since the band was Brazilian, Shapiro sang Portuguese birthday wishes to dinner co-chair and trustee Cheryl Glicker Milstein, BC ’81, and spoke about her time in Morningside. “It has been a great and happy run. I’ve been toying with the idea of joining the Cirque du Soleil but I’m not in shape,” Shapiro said. She suggested, because of her affinity for foreign languages, perhaps she could sing at a bar near the United Nations. “Whatever I do I will always have deep in my heart this wonderful college.”

Closing the event, Chase walked on stage one last time, noting that he and Shapiro were the same age. “We’re still young, and who knows what will happen … No, not that, my wife is here!”

Joy.resmovits@columbiaspectator.com