An Appreciation: Sy Syms: An Educated Donor Is Our Best Philanthropist
by Dan Forman Special to the Jewish Week
To the Jewish community, and especially to all of us at Yeshiva University, Sy Syms, the legendary entrepreneur who founded a business school here in his name and died Nov. 17 at the age of 83, was a paradigm of philanthropy and humanitarianism.
An outsider who became an insider at Yeshiva University, he was neither an alumus, parent, nor donor. My predecessor, David Zysman, introduced Sy to the institution after working together for many years on behalf of The Israel Bonds Organization. He was an out-of-the box match for YU, as Sy had no prior contact with the University. Yet, Sy became one of our most illustrious, loyal and passionate trustees, respected by all who knew him and beloved by our students.
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/>I first met Sy in 1995 when I became Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Yeshiva University. We would meet in his corporate office in Secaucus, New Jersey, in his simple and unpretentious space. Whenever I met with Sy, I always made sure to wear at least one piece of clothing from the Syms store. As he greeted me, I would then display the label from my purchase, either a new suit or tie, proudly showing him that I was a loyal customer.
Sy would get great pleasure from our opening ritual. I quickly learned that I wasn't alone. Accompanying Sy to numerous meetings over many years, I observed that a frequent comment I would hear from secretaries to managers to highly successful CEO's of Fortune 500 companies was, "I bought my suit at Syms." Sy would just beam with delight. I have thus come to the conclusion that somewhere along their career, every CEO in the greater New York area had purchased a suit, shirt and tie from Syms.
Just as keen instincts and creative vision marked his great professional success, Sy was ahead of the philanthropic curve. He understood that making a gift was just an initial step in his institutional participation. In fact, it also meant involvement, having an impact and accountability. It was of the utmost importance to Sy that graduates of the Sy Syms School of Business and other schools of Yeshiva University understand that their obligations were not limited to their industries, but also extended to society and to the Jewish community. It was Sy's conviction that the students' lives are grounded in ethics and personal responsibility and that they place the highest value on lifelong education and individual betterment.
Though not religiously observant, Sy appreciated the value and importance of a Jewish education. As a devoted trustee of YU for many years, he utilized the principles of his own corporate tagline, "An Educated Consumer is Our Best Customer." In the early 1980s, when he was first introduced to Yeshiva, Sy took the time to be fully educated about the University. He was a quick study who appreciated YU's big picture vision of Torah Umadda, which is the synthesis of secular and Torah studies. Sy realized the potent strength of this uniqueness and believed wholeheartedly that YU students can and should apply their analytical, probing and questioning skills they used for Torah study to solving business problems. According to Sy, these skills are necessary for developing successful business leaders, which became one of the underlying principles at the business school bearing his name.
In short time, the University became a wonderful match for Sy. A YU education emboldened and reinforced his belief that he not only gave birth to a unique business school with a mission to train future captains of industry, but that, he was making a major contribution to the American business community at large.
Some donors take pride in naming facilities as tangible, visible, concrete ways to measure philanthropy. For Sy, it was always about the students. He invited them to his home, he mentored them and he gave lectures at the school. He invested in them through scholarships and other acts of philanthropy. They, in turn, saw him as a mentor and a role model for success, not only as a businessman, but also as a human being and philanthropist. There were no barriers; the students loved him and became his extended family.
At one of Sy's lectures at the business school, a student asked him what he would do differently in his life if he could. He became emotional and said that through his connection to Yeshiva University, he became aware of the real worth of a Jewish education and that he was grateful to be in a position to contribute to the growth of the school and nurture its development.
Why? Because our students take the life lessons and Jewish values emanating from Torah study and apply them to leadership, ethics and other critical issues in business today. Sy strongly believed that the value of a Jewish education enhances a good business education. They inform and impact one another. Actually, a Jewish education provides the foundation for a good ethical education and Sy thought, even back then, that the true mark of a successful business executive was whether or not he or she is ethical.
And that was Sy himself. Though short in stature, Sy was a giant of a human being. He always counseled me to approach donors with sweetness and honey, to be kind, to take the gentle road forward. He was beloved not only by the students but by his fellow board members, who saw his commitment and belief in results, measurement and accountability. He was fiscally conservative in his fiduciary duties yet generous in his philanthropy. Of course, he was the guiding force behind the development of the Sy Syms School of Business.
He was fearless, always moving forward. Once the Syms Corp. Park Avenue store was open, our quarterly meetings moved from Secaucus to New York City. We would walk down a steep staircase to his makeshift office on the lower level. Being much younger than him, I nevertheless would always worry that I would fall down the steps. Sy had no such worries about himself. His consistent concerns were focused on his family, the school, the students' welfare and the future. He was a humble man, allowing others to shine even though the business school was named in his honor. Throughout the years, his daughter, Marcy, was both his business partner and fellow board member of the business school. They were a great team.
What also impressed me about Sy was that while he led an active corporate and civic life, he was a loyal and supportive husband, extremely proud of the accomplishments of his wife, Lynn. He used to accompany her on her many travels around the country and the world as chair of the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra.
Over the years, I have had occasion to speak and share stories with many peers in the fundraising world about the ideal donor. Inevitably, the name Sy Syms came to the top of the list. Sy was not the type of individual who would just write out a check. Like his renowned tag line, he was an educated philanthropist. Only after he educated himself about the importance of the institutions and organizations which benefited from his generosity did he make a donation.
YU was no exception. It was only after he immersed himself in YU's mission of enhancing wisdom in life did he decide to support our University and provide an educational environment for young men and women who could live this credo in their professional endeavors. Equally and, and even more importantly, they strive to be successful citizens of their communities and society-at-large, making important contributions to the well-being of humanity.
Sy was himself just such a citizen. We at Yeshiva University - indeed, all of us in the Jewish community - should be such individuals.
Sy Syms will have an everlasting impact on the thousands of Yeshiva University students who have been touched by his warmth and generous philanthropy - and I, too, consider myself very fortunate to have known Sy and the lessons of life I learned will remain with me forever.
Daniel T. Forman is Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Yeshiva University.
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