No matter the amount, gifts like those made by Krannert alumni including Andy Oreffice (BSIM '83) and Gerald Lyles (MSIA '71) have a lasting impact not only on students and programming, but the donors themselves. (Stock image)
The Gift of Giving
Donors' Perspectives
Fall 2018
By Eric Nelson
The impact of higher education fundraising is rightfully focused on the result, from increasing access and affordability for students to advancing the quality of their learning experience through gifts for endowed professorships, facilities improvements, and academic programming.
The motivation for giving, however, is unique to each donor. It may stem from their own college experience and career success, a commitment to social change, loyalty to a particular institution or program, or from any number of other philanthropic prompts.
Inspiring Courage
Andy Oreffice (BSIM ’83), senior vice president for compliance and government relations for Benevis LLC, says philanthropy is a “blessing” that he has been able to share by helping manage a charitable fund for his mother.
“We both liked the idea of endowing a scholarship at Krannert. Naming it after my best friend and college roommate, Jeff Frantz, made perfect sense,” he says.
When the first recipient of the Jeffrey A. Frantz Courage Scholarship in Management begins his or her college experience at Purdue in 2019, Oreffice wants them to know why. Frantz (BSIM ’86), senior vice president and leasing director for Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, has been in a long battle with colon cancer.
“Jeff was given 18 months to live nine years ago,” Oreffice says. “He has stayed positive even in the darkest of times. After more than 100 rounds of chemotherapy, he not only picks himself up as soon as possible after treatment to return to his normal life but he also remains a positive influence on those around him.”
The duo met during the fraternity pledge process at Purdue.
“I still remember when this tall, boisterous kid from Pittsburgh came up to our table at the Union as a prospective pledge like it was yesterday,” Oreffice says. “That was more than 35 years ago, and Jeff is still the happy, energetic soul that I met that day.
"We became roommates at Alpha Sigma Phi the next year and share hundreds of terrific memories during our time as students and as Purdue alumni.”
Oreffice describes himself and Frantz as “brothers from another mother.” They are godparents to each other’s children and have both lived in the same area of Atlanta for nearly 20 years. From golfing and vacationing together to returning to Purdue for football and basketball games, the Krannert alums share a passion for being Boilermakers and a strong faith.
“It is amazing to see the impact he has made on others,” Oreffice says of his friend. “My own perspective has been affected greatly by Jeff’s battle. When I see what he is going through and how he handles it, it makes me feel silly about things that I worry about, and it reminds me to love life as much as he does. He has inspired my own faith.”
The most difficult part of endowing the scholarship was getting Frantz to accept it being named in his honor.
“Jeff is a truly humble servant leader who is much more comfortable giving than receiving,” Oreffice says. “We put the word ‘courage’ in the name because we want the students who receive it to know that with a positive attitude and a strong faith they can overcome any challenge that will come their way.”
EDITOR'S NOTE: Jeff Frantz passed away on October 2, 2018. If you would like to contribute to the Jeffrey A. Frantz Courage Scholarship in Management, please make your gift here.
