YMA in the News

In The News
Beene Scholarships Awarded at YMA Dinner

January 14, 2008

NEW YORK – The annual YMA Geoffrey Beene Fashion Scholarship Dinner announced the four winners of the $25,000 Geoffrey Beene National Scholarship Awards on Wednesday evening at the Marriot Marquis in Midtown Manhattan. The four scholars were Davia Rabinoff-Goldman of RISD, Nicole Baum of the University of Colorado, Hazel Morley of Parsons and Casey Saccomanno of Philadelphia University.

The eight scholarship finalists.

Tom and Mara Hutton of the Geoffrey Beene Foundation, Paul Rosengard of Perry Ellis and Ken Duane of PVH.

The other four finalists, Chelsea Cornelison of the University of Wisconsin, Kwabena Asiedu of the Wharton School of Business, Jennifer McMasters of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Ilana Pfefer of F.I.T. were given bonus $5,000 scholarships, bringing their total awards to $10,000 each. This was the first year for the competitive Geoffrey Beene Scholarship, which was underwritten by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation. The YMA Fashion Scholarship Fund grants dozens of $5,000 scholarships each year to students from all over the country deemed to have the potential to work and succeed in the apparel business.

The evening also included awards for a number of fashion industry luminaries; Rick Leto, the CEO of Mervyn’s until just weeks ago, and Kenneth Cole, the CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions, were honored with AMY awards. Jay and Patty Baker were given an AMY award for lifetime achievement in recognition of their charitable giving.

In an unexpected highlight of the evening, the Bakers and the Geoffrey Beene Foundation announced additional matching gifts totaling $170,000 to bring the amount raised at the event to over $1.3 million, making it the most successful dinner to date.

Kenneth Cole (left) and Rick Leto (right).

Jay and Patty Baker.