In the Limelight: Saint Rose Alumna Kathleen Christy

Executive Director of The BISON Scholarship Fund and Saint Rose Alumna Kathleen Christy

By JOANNA CLARK
Contributing Writer

PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 8, 2011

Executive director, wife, mother of two, and daughter: all of these titles belong to Kathleen Christy, an alumna here at The College of Saint Rose.

Christy is the executive director of The BISON Scholarship Fund, which is a non-profit organization that raises money for underprivileged children to attend private schools in the Buffalo area. Christy is one of two staff members at this organization. Christy says her main responsibilities include managing the organization, as well as raising $2 million each year. Christy works with board members and out in the community where she represents the organization. When Christy was first introduced to the organization she was impressed with it, so it was an easy decision to take the job there when it was offered. Christy has been working with The BISON Scholarship Fund for ten years now.

“It’s so cliché, but you have to enjoy what you do,” said Christy. Christy is one of these people who enjoy what they do.

The environment of Christy’s job makes it easy to enjoy where she is. The organization she works for sends 86 percent of its kids to Catholic schools. Christy even feels that the office space the organization rents reminds her of Saint Joseph’s Hall. Christy feels that she is blessed to hold the position she currently has.

Many of Christy’s Saint Rose friends, whom she now keeps in touch with, enjoy their career paths too, whether it is being a teacher or the head of student affairs here at the College. Christy thinks that people who graduate from Saint Rose are successful and happy. “Enjoy what you do, do what you enjoy,” is how Christy feels you should live your life. Christy believes that many of the things that have made her successful today, she can attribute to Saint Rose. Christy was an active member of the student body while attending college. All four years of college she was a member of the student association, and was the vice president of the student association her junior year.

It is evident that Christy cares deeply about Saint Rose and looks back on her time here fondly. Christy feels that Saint Rose is unique because the faculty looks at the student as a whole person, and provides individual attention that you would not receive at a big university. She feels that even though the College has evolved, “the core values are still in place.” Christy also said that Saint Rose made her feel “empowered” and that she could go to her professors for anything. Christy said the diverse environment that she was introduced to at Saint Rose is similar to the one she works in professionally now.

Christy’s Saint Rose advisor also has many positive things to say on her behalf. Sister Agnes Rose Burton was not only Christy’s advisor, but also her professor for several undergrad classes. Burton had much to say about Christy’s time at Saint Rose:

“Kathleen’s academic dedication was supplemented with a gracious personality, a keen sense of humor, and a well-rounded realistic outlook on life. On campus, she enjoyed a splendid reputation among faculty and student colleagues for her high degree of integrity, admirable sense of ethics, and loyalty. Her industry, sincerity, unaffected and unassuming manner made her a leader, and it also provided her with a host of friends among her peers,” said Burton.

When asked if she always thought this is the direction her life would take, Christy promptly said no. She thought that she was going to go to school, graduate, get a job in politics, and get married. She did not originally intend to work in fundraising; the original plan was to work in politics. However, Christy said that she became “dis-enchanted” with the legislative process, because as a female she was not progressing as she would have liked. Christy, however, has no regrets.

If Christy’s resume does not speak for itself, her father Jeremiah Moriarty has nothing but nice things to say about his daughter. When asked what makes him the most proud out of all of his daughter’s many accomplishments, Moriarty said, “The thing that would make anyone proud of her accomplishments is her family, raising her two young daughters, and taking her husband. She has had a wonderful career. She has a wonderful position in Buffalo that puts her in contact with so many business people.”

Moriarty says that Christy has a “magnetic personality and is so giving,” which Moriarty says is “perfect for her career.” Moriarty feels the reason his daughter is so successful is because of her intelligence and personality.

Today, Christy has been married to her husband Tom Christy for 23 years, and is a mother to her two daughters: Charlotte Christy, who is 16, and Margaret Christy, who is 10. Christy and her family have lived in Tonawanda, New York for 18 years.

As for advice for current college students, Christy said, “Kids go to college for such focused things; I think that students have to have open minds in regard to their expectations. They have to start at ground level and learn the ropes. Learn to be good with people, read the paper, what is going on in the world. If you are well-liked and well-received and well-astute, you are going to go far because it is a trait that is lacking in our society.”