Baruch is a place where students spend some of the most important parts of their lives.

Whether it’s a student simply taking the required courses needed to graduate, or the most involved Bearcat going above and beyond the call of classes and really pushing him or herself to the limit.

For about four years a student will embody Baruch in some way or another.

Not only is it merely the amount of time spent here, but how the time is spent. From the ages of 18 to 22, which is when most students will matriculate as freshmen and graduate four years later, a student will experience some of the most memorable experiences of his or her life.

The college years are some of the most crucial in any person’s life. It’s where you really come into your own. You declare a major and basically say to yourself what areas of life are you most interested in pursuing.

You meet some of the most important people and develop relationships with some of the closest friends you’ll ever have. You’ll learn how to get by with minimal sleep, study time, and somehow still pull off being productive.

Even if you’re completely disconnected with Baruch, the years you spend getting a degree here are no different.

Baruch is an amazing place that provides a great education in a wonderful city. It’s really a shame that some students question this fact.

This past Wednesday, I was the lucky recipient of an invitation to the Bernard Baruch Dinner. The evening was as classy as it can get, and I felt almost out of place. Of course, until the speeches of the night began.

First, a recent graduate of Baruch spoke. She spoke of her education from Baruch and how it allowed her to polish the skills needed to be successful in her chosen career of real estate. There was no question about it: her hard work at Baruch had paid off.

Soon after, one of the most significant names in Baruch history was honored with the President’s Award.

His name was William Newman, if you’re having any trouble remembering where you may have heard that name, just think about the full name of our library building or Vertical Campus.This Baruch College legend graduated in 1947 and has gone on to have an extremely successful career. Among the attendees were great alumni like Max Berger, Larry Zicklin and others whose names adorn areas of the college.

Where at first I was extremely humbled by the fact that I was chewing down on hor d’ourves with some of the biggest movers and shakers of New York City, as the night continued on, I realized that when they were my age many of them were exactly like me.

Sitting at the dinner as a Baruch student who knew both what it was like to not be involved at all as well as a student leader who reached the heights of the Presidency, I realized that this is what captivated me about Baruch.

As one alumnus put it, “from humble background to the success of today” is the Bearcat spirit. It’s the way of Baruch. It’s what makes our students—past, current, and future—better than any others.

It’s something that I want to expand on. Those alumni, who have given a cumulative $1 million to the school over the past year—an astounding figure for a public college—continue to be the leaders they were in their formative years, and the students of today should be the Newmans, Zicklins, and Bergers of tomorrow.

Without those names, much of what gets done at the college would not be able to happen. That fact is extraordinarily important for students to understand and embody. The “pay it forward” attitude carried by the alumni needs to be lived by the students.

Our alumni base of tomorrow needs to be built today. That is why I would like to announce a challenge to the class of 2012, and students in general. I challenge this student body to help me get over 750 individual donors to give towards the class gift.

In return, we will help the college’s future by helping our future selves.

Let’s build up the network for alumni and develop something that all the prestigious Universities have: an alumni club.

Let’s develop the framework of, plant the seed for the creation of, and get the ball rolling on the funding for The Baruch Club.

Just like Harvard and Yale graduates enjoy their alumni clubs and societies, let us embrace the prestige we’ve always had and declare that we are able to keep our greatness going.