Peterson Society celebrates 30 years of funding futures, offers pearls of wisdom

Be kind. Remain curious and creative. Never give up. Be yourself. Practice self-care.

These words are just a few of the many pearls of wisdom that members and inductees of the Buffalo State University Peterson Society shared with students embarking on the same journey they began years ago.

The Peterson Society is Buffalo State's planned giving and legacy society. It is full of lifelong Bengals, set on making a lasting impact on the future generation. The Society rang in its 30th anniversary on October 8, packing the second floor of the Buffalo Club for its annual luncheon that honors inductees, current members, and members who have passed. To honor the 30-year milestone, plans for the Peterson Society Commemorative Grove, a new campus landmark coming in 2027, were also highlighted.

The Planned Giving Committee Chair, James Brandys, '71, '73, opened the luncheon and said that for the thirtieth anniversary, he'd hoped to have 30 new members. Brandys and the Peterson Society welcomed 35 new members this year, exceeding all expectations.

One of these new members is Benjamin M. Zuffranieri Jr., a former United Students Government (USG) senator and treasurer, who graduated from Buffalo State in 1980 with a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He later returned to lecture from 1984 to 1986. At the luncheon, Zuffranieri enjoyed catching up with old friends and passing on his pearl of wisdom to the next generation.

"Embrace the challenge of learning," he said. "You'll get out of your college program what you put into it."

The luncheon's keynote speaker, Michele M. Fairchild Marko, put everything she had into her college program and got the most out of it. Graduating in 1972 with a bachelor of science degree in food and nutrition, Fairchild Marko recalls her early days at Buffalo State, when she cleaned test tubes for work-study, which ultimately led ultimately to her position as an assistant to the administrator in the student teaching department. It was in this position that she met Russell Utz, the head of the student teaching department. He had recently returned from a trip to Cameroon, sparking her idea to study abroad. Down the hall, Leonard J. Poleszak gave that extra reassurance that she and her parents needed to let her go across the Atlantic to Siena, Italy. Buffalo State faculty left a lasting impact on her life.

Set on giving back even more to her alma mater, Fairchild Marko and her husband, Tedy made an irrevocable commitment to support Buffalo State's first-ever doctoral program: the Doctor of Professional Studies in Creativity and Change Leadership. Fairchild Marko said that her favorite part of all of this is that it feels like it's "just the beginning." Through this new program, she hopes to help shape the lives of countless future leaders. Her pearl of wisdom: "Yes, you can!"

Though the pearls of wisdom theme was unbeknownst to twenty-plus year Peterson Society member Barbara L. Czurles Nelson, she wore a pearl necklace and a matching set of pearl earrings to the luncheon. It might be a coincidence, but her pearl of wisdom took her back to the days when she used to go on evening walks with her father, Stanley A. Czurles, one of the founders and longtime directors of the art division at Buffalo State. Czurles Nelson remembers these walks despite only being a few years old. They'd stop to look in shop windows. Her father would talk about his day and give her pearls of wisdom all the time, but one stuck with her:

"The only really important thing in life is that we take care of each other," she said. "I mean two words. Each. Other. And that means every person your life brushes up against or who your life influences."

Pictured: Matthew Barton (author, senior journalism major) and Michele M. Fairchild Marko.

Photo by Mark Mulville.

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