Heather Adsit, wife of Mount Saint Mary College president Jason N. Adsit, came up with an unusual way to celebrate the Newburgh college”™s annual Go Blue fundraiser reaching $80,000 in donations: she went skydiving. Adsit actually had offered to go for a skydive as a way to encourage contributions to the Go Blue fund. She originally promised to skydive if contributions topped $50,000, which they clearly did.
After a few delays due to poor weather conditions, Mrs. Adsit ventured to Skydive The Ranch in Gardiner for what would be a tandem skydive with one of Skydive The Ranch”™s instructors. In a tandem skydive, the instructor takes the active role and the other person can just relax and enjoy jumping out of an airplane, or help out in maintaining stability during the dive or even help with maneuvering by using the arms and legs to direct airflow. After undergoing a briefing and suiting up, she and the instructor boarded a single-engine airplane and were carried aloft. Then, harnessed together, they jumped out for what is known as an “instructor-assisted freefall.”
The Go Blue fundraiser, conceived by Margaret Treacy, director of Annual Giving at the college, derives its name from the college”™s blue color scheme.
“Students, faculty, staff, alumni and other friends of the college really came together to show their love and support for the Mount,” Treacy said.
A key contributor to the most recent campaign was Karen Eberle-McCarthy, professor emerita of Hispanic Studies at the college, who donated $20,000 to establish a new scholarship program. It will support current junior and senior students from the city of Newburgh who are in need of financial aid.
“Having spent 37 years teaching Spanish at the Mount and taken hundreds of students on immersive study abroad experiences, I have witnessed the incredible impact a college degree can have on young minds and their future success,” said Eberle-McCarthy. “College graduates from the city of Newburgh are role models for their families and community, which is why I decided to establish a new scholarship. I see this scholarship as an additional bridge between Newburgh and the Mount.”
