At a district conference on Thursday, January 30, Salem State University was recognized by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) district I, which covers the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, with two awards of excellence and the Distinguished Friend of Education Award.
 The university’s institutional advancement area was awarded gold in the category “best practices in fundraising campaigns†for its campus community campaign. This is the highest level of recognition at the district level, and Salem State was the only university to receive the award.
In the fundraising publications category, institutional advancement won a bronze award for its 10,000 Reasons campaign case statement.
Additionally, university benefactors Bernard and Sophia Gordon were recognized at a district dinner on January 28 with CASE’s district I Distinguished Friend of Education Award. The award honors an individual/individuals whose volunteer service has helped to advance education at an educational institution—even though he or she is not a graduate of that institution. A leadership gift from the couple—and their ongoing support of Salem State University—is making possible the renovation of the university’s Mainstage Theatre into the state-of-the-art Sophia Gordon Center for the Creative and Performing Arts.
As a result of their awards, the university is automatically advanced to the Circle of Excellence program for CASE International, where it will compete against gold-level winners from the other districts for the chance to earn an even higher level of recognition.
 Salem State University, established in 1854, is a comprehensive, public institution of higher learning located approximately 15 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts. The university enrolls 10,000 undergraduate and graduate students representing 44 states and 61 nations, and is one of the largest state universities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. With over 200 veterans currently enrolled, Salem State has been designated a Military Friendly institution by G.I. Jobs, placing it in the top 20% of schools ratio