Crowdfunding supports a rainbow of projects, including LGBTQ+ scholarship

Every fall, we reach out to the Cornell community to spotlight giving opportunities that directly benefit Cornell students. The 8th annual Cornell Crowdfunding campaign officially kicked off on October 12, and will include a total of 16 student-driven projects and one special scholarship challenge.

From now through December 5, these crowdfunding projects have the chance to reach out directly to you—their Cornell family—to share more details about their projects, explain how your gifts make all the difference, and expand their pool of supporters. Since 2013, thousands of Cornellians have stepped up to raise more than $2.1 million in donations for their favorite projects.

This year, we are pleased to include a special scholarship challenge offered by Malcolm Kram DVM ’74. In 2005, Kram and his husband, Mark Zwanger MD, established the Anna and Hyman Greenberg Scholarship in the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). The couple also established a similar scholarship at Zwanger’s alma mater, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University.

The scholarship supports diversity at CVM and is Cornell’s only scholarship for LGBTQ+ students. Over the past 15 years, several other donors have contributed to the fund, which offers financial support for veterinary studies at Cornell—with preference given to LBGTQ+ students.

Kram believes that inclusion of LGBTQ+ students is a significant part of diversity efforts at the university, and he has offered a $10,000 match as part of the 2020 crowdfunding campaign—to inspire more donations to the scholarship.

Photo highlights of some of the 2020 crowdfunding projects:

Our project exposes students to the power of solar energy. With more people educated in the subject, the world’s future could shift in a better direction. —CU Solar Boat

“Cornell Concrete Canoe has allowed students like me to extend our engineering education beyond the classroom and make friends along the way.”—Shelton Carr ’21, Cornell Concrete Canoe

We have built 23 water treatment plants to provide clean water for thousands of people across Central America and India. —Agua Clara

“NSBE has provided me with a lovely community at university. Students are always willing to help and genuinely care about each other’s wellbeing.” —Thomas Taffe ’21, National Society of Black Engineers

“Cornell Seismic Design has given me the opportunity to truly grow as an engineer and a leader, and it inspired my interest in seismology and performance-based design. I hope one day to use what I learned from the team to make the world a more resilient place.” —Anita Zhang ’21, Cornell Seismic Design

A little kindness goes a long way

Kram recalls that, initially, administrators at CVM were skeptical that students would apply. But, “the first year it was offered, there were applicants, and year after year this scholarship has been awarded,” Kram says proudly. “To my knowledge Cornell Vet is still the only veterinary college in the U.S. that offers this specific type of targeted financial support.”

Kram recalls that when he was a student, “there was significant homophobia throughout the veterinary profession.” Kram received meaningful support from former CVM Dean Donald F. Smith and Alison Smith, director of development at CVM, which later inspired him to found the scholarship. “It took close to a year to actually formalize the scholarship, in part because Cornell was uncertain that anyone would apply as this would ‘out’ them at a time of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” Kram recounts.

Kram has been moved by the gratitude of the scholarship recipients over the years, each of whom he has met. “What has been most rewarding to both my spouse, Mark Zwanger, and myself, are their consistent words of thanks and their heart-wrenching stories of need,” Kram says. “It is our hope that Cornell will continue to lead in support of diversity and the LGBTQ community,” he adds.