A Powerful Gift
Scholarship donors Truman and Beth Bullard share a moment with Nancy Gomez '18 during the Scholarship Luncheon.
Dickinsonians gather to celebrate the transformational power of scholarship support
More than 150 Dickinsonians recently gathered on campus for the annual Scholarship Luncheon, which brought donors and scholars together to highlight the power of gifts supporting financial aid and scholarships. Featuring a student performance and speeches by President Nancy Roseman and two alumni donors, the event gave scholarship supporters the chance to meet the recipients of their generosity and hear firsthand about how Dickinson is shaping the future.
"These students are here because of you," Roseman told attendees, noting that their contributions not only have an impact on the students who depend on financial aid to afford Dickinson but also on the wider world that those students will impact when they graduate. "I know you'll agree that they're a worthwhile investment. It is an investment in our collective future when you open the door to a great education to a deserving, talented human being. And given the challenges we face, we simply cannot afford to leave that talent untapped."
A dream realized
Rosalyn Robinson ’68, an emerita trustee and judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, recalled the importance of her own scholarship as she told attendees why she makes financial aid at Dickinson a philanthropic priority. Quoting Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem" and asking, "What happens to a dream deferred?" she said that her scholarship to Dickinson "enabled my dream not to be deferred but to be realized beyond my greatest expectations."
Lee Tankle '10, who recalled attending the Scholarship Luncheon as a student, also stressed how scholarship gifts make a powerful impact at Dickinson and beyond.
"It is more important than ever to contribute to Dickinson," said Tankle, now an associate attorney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick in Harrisburg, Pa. "We need writers and thinkers—people who are willing to stand up to those who fail to use logic or reason but merely try to scare others with fire, brimstone and rhetoric. Dickinson helps prepare students to be leaders in the 21st century."
In addition to the remarks from Roseman, Robinson and Tankle, Holly Kelly ’15, the recipient of the 2015 Alumni Scholarship, sang "Hark, the Ech’ing Air!" from The Fairy-Queen by Henry Purcell and "Laurie’s Song" from The Tender Land by Aaron Copland.
Learn more
Published May 4, 2015