It was an evening highlighted by the presence of CBS Broadcast Journalist, Lesley Stahl, and NPR’s award-winning legal affairs correspondent, Nina Totenberg. At the Foundation’s 2022 Gala, we paid tribute to U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Melanne Verveer, with the Foundation’s “2022 Dr. Ida Scudder Women’s Empowerment Award”. Ambassador Verveer’s is a remarkable story highlighted by her tireless efforts to address the dire human rights situation in Afghanistan and her ongoing commitment to countless woman’s empowerment issues resulting in “sustainable” social and economic improvement.

The Foundation also recognized CMC Director, Dr. John Victor Peter, with its first-ever “Healthcare Leadership Award”. during his tenure as Director, Dr. Peter demonstrated a true commitment to his promise that “Charity would be the soul of the work at CMC” and that the hospital’s staff would provide “compassionate, Christ-centered, holistic, cost-effective, and high-quality medical care”. History has shown that every CMC director that followed Dr. Ida Scudder remained true to the ethos she ingrained into the fabric of CMC, but none more successfully and faithfully than Dr. Peter.

The gala attendees were also entertained by the music of a cappella group, Backtrack Vocals, who in addition to Performing a collection of songs performed from their own repertoire, sang the “CMC College Song” to the delight of the alumni (and other guests) in attendance.

The event was not only well attended by the Foundation’s board members and CMC’s U.S. Nursing and Medical alumni, but also by many members of the Scudder family, the faith-based community, and friends of the Foundation from varying walks of life. All seemed to enjoy the evening’s festivities.

While at the podium, gala emcee, Lesley Stahl, shared her impression that “CMC stands alone as a beacon of light in India and as the standard-bearer for the entire global healthcare community”. She pointed out that “today, CMC is recognized as India’s finest private medical college & hospital, and as the world’s largest Christian hospital”. In her closing comments, she pointed out that “CMC’s alumni hold many of the most prominent faculty, research, surgical, and clinical positions in the world”. It was a beautiful tribute to the unique character and dedication to excellence that is so much a part of CMC.

The gala attendees also had the pleasure of witnessing an impromptu exchange of thoughts, ideas, and experiences between Lesley Stahl and Nina Totenberg, who spoke about their respective careers as American television journalists in a profession that has been predominantly occupied by men. Each was the first in their respective fields of expertise, Lesley as the first female White House correspondent and Nina as the first journalist to report on the Supreme Court’s private deliberations dating back to the Nixon Administration.

Some of the Gala’s other notable attendees included: acclaimed violinist, Mira Wang, Director of the Fogarty Institute, Dr. Roger Glass, Chairman of the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine at NYU Langone Health, Dr. Steven Flanagan, and Yale University Cultural Historian of Modern China, Professor Jing Tsu.

This year’s gala represented the Foundation’s most successful fundraiser to date, raising more than double the amount raised at the Foundation’s 2018 gala celebration.