It was a day of handshakes and gratitude in College of the Canyons’ teaching kitchens as the person responsible for the COC Foundation’s largest individual gift met with the students who will benefit from his family’s million-dollar donation.
Gary Cusumano retired as chairman of the board for The Newhall Land & Farming Co., which remains today one of the most influential forces in the Santa Clarita Valley’s development.
His success in the corporate world has allowed him and his late wife, Diana Cusumano, to be major community philanthropists. COC has been one of the biggest of many beneficiaries over the years, a list that includes Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital and the SCV Child & Family Center.
Diana Cusumano died in April at age 79 and was credited as a driving force for the committee that raised the money for the Institute for Culinary Education, or the iCUE, which opened in 2015.
Providing education and opportunities for students was so important to his wife, Gary Cusumano said Wednesday, sharing how much his wife meant to him, as well, becoming choked up after COC gave him his own chef’s jacket in gratitude.
That was part of the reason why he donated $1 million to create a scholarship fund for the college’s culinary arts program, which also is naming its instructional building after Gary and Diana Cusumano.
The Santa Clarita Community College District governing board approved the gift and the naming of the building during a special meeting at the college on Tuesday afternoon.
“I just wanted to say how grateful we all are for your very generous gift, and we all recognize the many students that will benefit from it,” said governing board member Edel Alonso, who remembered Cusumano’s children from their time at Hart High.
“I also want to give you kudos on raising such a lovely family,” Alonso said, as Cusumano stood next to his daughter Toni Cusumano during the meeting.
During a campus tour prior to the acceptance, Cusumano said it was a true honor to be able to support others with opportunities to be successful — if the student can, as he put it, “Get with the program.”
“There’s so much opportunity in this country today for young people. I mean, the key is to get the basic fundamental education in something you enjoy doing, because if you don’t enjoy doing it, you’re not going to go anywhere,” Cusumano said. “And then last but not least, most important is, once you get your education, I call it, ‘Get with the program.’ You’ve got to hustle. You’ve got to work hard. Those early years are the key. If you can get off and running in something you enjoy doing and you’re working hard, you will be successful, period.”
Cusumano was working for Newhall Land in 1969 when it got the entitlement for a 5,000-acre development that would become Valencia.
He worked his way to the top before his retirement and offered words of wisdom from the C-Suite with students who shared their culinary goals.
Cusumano said he was grateful for the opportunities that helped him work his way to the top, but felt he had to because he didn’t have the right opportunity to start his own business.
He asked many of the students about their dreams, encouraging them and offering advice several times.
“I’m not super sure, but I know that I do want to bake,” said Amanda Lozano, a first-year student in the program, when Cusumano asked her about her program goals.
Her classmate James Rocha was learning about all aspects surrounding the kitchen because he wants to learn more about the family business.
Gerardo Ruelas and Pearla Flores are second-year students who were having fun preparing a curry dish in the simulated kitchen Wednesday when the tour came through.
Flores said she’s not only learning a lot, but also she feels part of a close-knit group.
“Honestly, the camaraderie, it’s like a second home with the professors,” she said. “They teach you like you’re one of their own.”
Culinary student Adriana Duarte talked about some of the things she was getting out of the program, describing how the program offers personal fulfillment and how it makes starting a business feel possible.
“It’s a skillset we can all take home, too,” she said.
