Legacy.

A word that many people use to describe what Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor will leave following her departure in June 2014. And it is this legacy, known by many as Scholarship in Action, that organizations around the city of Syracuse hope to see continued after Cantor leaves.

“Chancellor Cantor is a visionary leader who has worked tirelessly on behalf of young people,” Syracuse City School District Superintendent Sharon Contreras said in a statement released Friday. “She will be greatly missed but her legacy will remain for years to come.”

Upon stepping into her role as chancellor of SU in 2004, Cantor introduced her Scholarship in Action vision to the Syracuse community. It was a vision of philanthropy — one that connected SU with the city of Syracuse. Since then, she’s had a hand in restructuring the SCSD, rolling out the Syracuse Say Yes to Education program and revitalizing the city’s Near Westside.

While Cantor is leaving SU in June 2014, many organizations that have been affected by Cantor’s Scholarship in Action initiative said they are confident her vision will continue long after her departure.

Upon being hired as superintendent of the SCSD in 2011, Contreras immediately set into motion a plan to improve graduation rates, recruit effective teachers and rebuild a crumbling district.

Cantor not only had a hand in forming this plan, but she also helped create scholarships and other opportunities for students in the struggling district. At an Aug. 22 SCSD Board of Education meeting, Cantor said it is important to create educational opportunities within Syracuse because students who graduate from the district may very well enroll at SU, a point Contreras echoed in her statement.

“This year alone there are 51 SCSD graduates in the 2012-13 freshman class at Syracuse University,” she said.

Cantor’s vision of Scholarship in Action has touched the district in a number of ways, specifically the Syracuse Say Yes program.

Say Yes is a national nonprofit organization that works to improve the academic performance of students in urban areas. The organization reaches out to all public schools in the city and provides services such as tutoring, after-school programs, summer programs and scholarship programs.

Syracuse Say Yes to Education Director of Operations Pat Driscoll said Cantor has been behind the initiative since its rollout in the city in 2008.

“There’s no doubt that Chancellor Cantor and her faculty at Syracuse University played a critical role in having Say Yes come to Syracuse,” he said. “What Chancellor Cantor’s done, I hope, will be a model for other chancellors at major universities.”

Driscoll said he is not worried about what might happen to Say Yes’ connection with the university after Cantor’s departure. He is looking forward to continuing Say Yes’ partnership with Cantor until she leaves in 2014, he said, and has high hopes for working with the next chancellor.

“My hope is that whoever replaces Chancellor Cantor sees the successes that Say Yes has achieved here in the Syracuse community,” Driscoll said.

Cantor had an especially direct hand in improving the city of Syracuse through the Near Westside Initiative. The NWSI is an organization that is partially funded by SU. Its aim is to revitalize and reinvigorate the West side of the city through promoting artistic and cultural development.

It was Cantor’s vision, enthusiasm and drive that helped get the NWSI up and running, sad Maarten Jacobs, the director of the organization.

“She’s been one of the main drivers to make this happen and get it to where it is,” he said.

Jacobs said he is not worried about how the NWSI might be affected by Cantor’s departure, because it was Cantor that designed the organization to function no matter who’s in charge.

“It was her vision from the start that recognized that this needs to continue whether she’s still chancellor or not,” Jacobs said.

Members of the organization are confident about the direction the NWSI is headed, Jacobs said. And the relationships the NWSI has built with SU faculty members will help keep it a relevant organization on campus.

“We feel confident that we’ll be kind of as strong as ever,” Jacobs said.

In an email sent by Cantor to the university community on Friday, Cantor acknowledged the many initiatives SU is involved in and said the university still has much work to do.

“It is tempting to celebrate what we have accomplished, what we are doing on campus, in our community, around the nation and overseas,” Cantor said in the email. “Still, we really can’t afford to take our minds off our responsibilities in the near term.”

In terms of Scholarship in Action, Cantor said she is proud of the university’s involvement in so many geographic areas of the world.

“I am savoring the opportunities that will surely continue in the remainder of my term as Chancellor,” Cantor said, “Even as I want to say a deep felt thanks today for all that we’ve been able to already do together.”

Published on October 12, 2012 at 5:47 pm

Contact Stephanie: snbouvia@syr.edu | @snbouvia