As Dibya Patnaik ’21 looks forward to graduating from Syracuse University in just two months, the senior from Robbinsville, New Jersey, can’t help but look back at her college experience with a renewed sense of clarity.
Dibya Patnaik
“I’ve come to the realization that all the opportunities I took advantage of over the past 4 years were possible because of philanthropy,” says Patnaik, who is majoring in supply chain management and entrepreneurship and minoring in information management and technology. “The Whitman Leadership Scholarship has made my Syracuse experience a reality by being a gift that kept giving.”
Patnaik has made the most of her time as a student, immersing herself in academics and student organizations like Delta Sigma Pi, OrangeSeeds and Whitman Leadership Scholars. She joined the Forever Orange Student Alumni Council (FOSAC) in 2018 and serves as the group’s co-president, one of the reasons she knows her Syracuse experience will change when she graduates, but it won’t end.
Like the tens of the thousands who came before her and the tens of thousands who will follow in her footsteps, Patnaik’s lifelong connection to Syracuse University began the minute she stepped on campus.
The Orange family will celebrate that lifelong connection during Forever Orange Week, March 22-28. The week features a variety of virtual programming, community service projects and philanthropic initiatives designed to bring the Orange family together, highlight the power of giving back and demonstrate what it means to #BeOrange while celebrating the University’s 151st birthday on March 24, National Orange Day.
Among the highlights:
• The Forever Orange Virtual 5k: Walk, Run or Roll, anywhere–anytime! A partnership with the Lerner Center
• Orange Experience: Craft a Collage with the Syracuse University Art Museum | March 23, 6-6:45 p.m. ET | Zoom Meeting
• University Lecture: Nyle DiMarco, deaf activist and ambassador | March 23, 7:30 p.m. ET | Zoom Webinar
• Forever Orange: Connecting to the Orange Family for students and young alumni | March 24, 6 p.m. ET | Zoom Meeting
• CBT Virtual Connection Series: Women’s History Month Panel hosted by the Office of Multicultural Advancement | March 25, 7 p.m. ET | Zoom Webinar
• Music and Message with Hendricks Chapel | March 28, 4 p.m. | Zoom Webinar
Check out the full schedule and register for any of the programs.
Syracuse University alumni clubs will continue their tradition of supporting their communities with a number of National Orange Day service projects planned across the country. Several clubs are also urging their members to support the Hendricks Chapel Food Pantry, which provides food and other important items to members of the campus community in need.
The University’s birthday week is also a great time to show off what means to #BeOrange on social media. Post a photo of yourself wearing your favorite Syracuse gear and share a story about the importance of your lifelong connection to ’Cuse on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the #BeOrange hashtag.
As a senior, Dibya Patnaik knows Forever Orange Week 2021 will carry some extra meaning as she reflects on her time at Syracuse University.
“I was able to embrace opportunities inside and outside the classroom to have the richest possible college experience,” says Patnaik.
Patnaik appreciates that many of those opportunities were made possible by the experience, leadership and generosity of the generations who came before her. She looks forward to a forever Orange future where she can help shape similar opportunities for generations of students to come.
