Chapter 2

Fundraising

“Reese, can you please begin this meeting,” Dr. Sanderson asked. “I have two more meetings after this and I’d like to get through this one. Please give me an update; where are we at with fundraising? How much money have you collected and how much do you have committed? Where are we at with all of this?” Reese breathed deep and gathered his thoughts. One of Reese’s many job functions was that of fundraising. Cream University was the envy of many colleges throughout the State of New Jersey and the tri-state area because it had a very lucrative endowment and it received state funding. When Dr. Sanderson and the previous governor created the endowment, they hoped that it would receive generous donations from donors. And, it did; however, Dr. Sanderson wanted to do more. At the end of the first academic year at Cream, Dr. Sanderson held a fundraising ball to celebrate the success of the university’s first open school year and to generate more funding for the year. She honored the previous governor for his efforts with helping the school. It was Dr. Sanderson’s gift to the governor as he exited office. She also took time to put the university on display for all of “her supporters, to honor her staff and faculty, and also offer scholarships to five Camden City high school students. There was a formal program, a sit down dinner and entertainment for the guests. It was such a success, Dr. Sanderson decided to continue her “tradition” of the fundraising ball at the end of each academic year. Each year, a different person in CURC took over as the primary staff for coordinating the ball, this was not by design.

It was because each year after the ball ended the staff person in charge of coordinating it resigned from CURC, with the exception of Regina. Regina was in charge of coordinating the Inaugural Fundraising Ball. The next year, it was agreed that Regina would no longer coordinate the ball, but rather she would supervise its coordination. Dr. Sanderson hired a different person the next year to take over the ball. That new hire would then resign afterwards and another person was hired and so forth. The same happened before Reese was hired. Last year, Dr. Sanderson honored Cindy Hillman of Hillman Automotive. Ms. Hillman gave the largest individual gift, $2.5m, to the endowment fund. With her donation came a list of other donors who supported Ms. Hillman by donating money to the University Endowment. Dr. Sanderson was so excited about this gift; she wanted the best for the ball. She wanted the best entertainers, the best venue, the best food; she wanted the best everything. In the meantime, she worked some of her staff to death. Literally!

One Friday evening, two months before the ball, Dr. Sanderson and Regina stayed at the office late to totally revise the planning for the ball. Dr. Sanderson was displeased with the way things were planned to the point she berated Regina for her lack of supervision of the coordination.

“What the hell are you doing with this Regina? I give you this project so that we can make sure things go smooth, I got this lady giving me $2.5 million dollars and you wanna have this shitty ball. This is not going to work. You need to fix it.”

“Gabrielle, I am doing everything that you asked, but we don’t need to spend money on stuff that we don’t need just because we’ve got the money to do so. We should save this money for the fund.”

“Regina, we have enough money in the fund; I got $50 million in there now, we just got $2.5 million, we’re expecting another $2 million. We can afford to have this ball, and I want the best; nothing shitty Regina. I want elegance and class. I want…”

“You want to be extra.”

“Why do I even have you on my staff? You’re always challenging me. I am the boss here Regina, I don’t need you of all people to keep me in check with my money.”

“First off, Gabrielle, it is not your money.  And second, I am reminding you that you are responsible to your funders as Chairman of the Board and…”

“Regina, will you stop challenging me and shut up?”

Suddenly, Regina felt a sharp pain in her chest. She was stunned and staggered backwards and fell into her chair. “What is wrong with you?” Dr. Sanderson asked. Regina began to panic. She didn’t know what was happening to her. Her heart was racing uncontrollably while simultaneously pounding. Breathing became more difficult. Regina gasped with all of her being and said, “I…I think…I am…having…heart attack.”

“You’re being ridiculous. It is probably indigestion; you know you have been gaining a little weight Regina.”

Regina looked to Dr. Sanderson for hope, but to no avail. Regina passed out. Dr. Sanderson alerted her staff and an ambulance was at the office in less than five minutes. Regina was rushed to the hospital and had emergency heart surgery. The very next day, Regina’s parents arrived to Camden from the Island of Trinidad. Regina’s mother informed Dr. Sanderson that Regina required three months leave from work in order to recover. Dr. Sanderson reluctantly agreed as if she had a choice in the matter. While she genuinely wished for a speedy recover, Dr. Sanderson wanted Regina back on the job as soon as possible. She was even more upset that Regina would miss the annual ball. But that didn’t stop her from trying to put Regina to work.

Two weeks before the ball, Dr. Sanderson went to visit Regina. When she arrived to the room, she noticed that Regina’s parents were in the room with Regina. After brief pleasantries, Regina got down to business. “Okay Gabrielle, what do you need? You haven’t come to see me since my heart attack and now, two weeks before the ball, you’re here. What’s up? Oh, wait; you actually came to see me? You actually came with a gift? That was really thoughtful of you. I cannot wait to see what it is.” Regina’s parents smiled and welcomed the offering. Well, I came to see how you were doing,” Dr. Sanderson explained. “And since you are doing fine, I have this for you.” Regina received the box from her boss anticipating a gift only to find paperwork from the office. “You see, the grant for the student outreach program is due next week and I need someone who can put it together by then. Also, I put in there more papers that have to be filled out regarding our donations to the endowment…we’ve got to report these numbers to the foundation and…” Mr. Gordon had enough of what he was witnessing, “How dare you bring work in here for my daughter to do when she’s still recovering from the heart attack you gave her…” Dr. Sanderson looked puzzled. “The heart attack I gave her?”

Mr. Gordon confirmed, “Yes the one you gave her. Do you know what the doctor told us? That Regina’s under too much stress at the job. I didn’t necessarily think that was true, but now I see for myself that it is. It’s no wonder that my daughter had a heart attack. She has no family of her own. She spends her days and nights with you. You’re married. You’re a parent; but nothing for my daughter except for your work. I’ve had it. That is enough. The doctor told us that she needs rest, and that any more added stress could cause an additional attack. We’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen. Regina was working on your ball, but you need to find someone else to run it because Regina is no longer available, so you can take your shit, and get the hell outta this room, now.”

Dr. Sanderson looked at Regina to see if she would intervene. She did not. She then looked at Mr. Gordon, who was visibly irate. Dr. Sanderson sighed and said, “You know I understand that Regina is sick and we all are stressed here. Regina means so much to the organization and to Cream…I am stressed by not having her. She’s a part of my team and I need her. This is nowhere near her regular work load. It’s just a few things I need her to do for me. Regina is an adult, I am sure that she doesn’t need her daddy to make decisions for her.” Mr. Gordon replied with a stern voice, “Get out!” Dr. Sanderson turned her attention to Regina and said, “I am going to leave everything here on the chair. When you get a chance, take care of this for me.” With that, Dr. Sanderson left the room and began walking down the hallway. Suddenly, there was a thwack onto the hospital floor and a loud voice roaring from the opposite direction. It was Mr. Gordon. He threw Dr. Sanderson’s paperwork as far as he could in her direction. Patients and hospital workers alike were startled at the sound. Mr. Gordon then yelled, “If you bring this shit back here again, or step foot near my daughter, I’ll have you arrest and locked behind bars you arrogant twit.” Not to appear flustered by Mr. Gordon, Dr. Sanderson simply kept walking towards the elevator, never breaking stride to turn around. She walked in the elevator, and turned to the hospital floor that they may be graced with the sight of her as the elevator door closed.

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