Dickinson Scholarship Campaign Passes $50-Million Mark
Over 4,100 Donors Change Lives and Change the World Though Historic Campaign
by Matt Getty
Dickinson recently crossed the $50-million milestone in the largest scholarship fundraising campaign in college history, bringing the community two-thirds of the way toward its goal of providing a scholarship for every student who needs one. Launched in November 2021 as part of the Dickinson Forward initiative, the Campaign for Scholarships: Change a Life—Change the World has created 100 new scholarship funds with gifts from over 4,100 donors providing critical support for the college’s commitment to meeting the full demonstrated financial-aid need of every student it admits.
“This is a huge moment for Dickinson,” says President John E. Jones III ’77, P’11, who announced the achievement during the recent Dickinson Forward Tour stop in London. “Our entire community has come together over the last two years to show that we believe in the life-changing power of a Dickinson education. We know that this college builds the leaders the world needs for tomorrow, and we know that is worth investing in. Everyone who has been a part of this campaign has changed a student’s life. And because our students go on to make this world a better place, everyone who has been a part of this campaign is helping to change the world.”
President John E. Jones III '77, P'11, announced that the campaign had reached the $50 million mark during a recent Dickinson Forward Tour event in London.
As Jones notes, the campaign is truly the result of a wide community effort. The donors who’ve brought the campaign to the $50 million mark represent Dickinsonians from 74 different class years, spanning the 1940s all the way up to 2026. Donors hail from 47 different U.S. states and 33 countries, and many of them have been motivated by a desire to give forward by giving back.
“Dickinson granted me a generous financial aid package, and I never had to stress about paying for my education,” says Jacob DeCarli ’22, a Fulbright Teaching Assistant in Italy. “Now, I want to give back so that future Dickinsonians have access to scholarships and the same opportunities as I had as an undergrad student.”
Ashley Morefield ’18, who earned a prestigious Pickering Fellowship after graduation and is currently completing a master’s degree in security studies, agrees. “I have always been taught that to whom much is given, much is required,” she explains. “I was so lucky to have been financially supported by scholarships and grants that made my Dickinson education possible and such a worthwhile experience for me. Dickinson is continuing to expand and evolve and attract even more students from around the world, and it deserves the support of its alumni and the broader community to make that happen.”
Most powerfully, much of the campaign’s support so far has generated long-lasting results. More than 75% of the gifts have funded permanently endowed scholarship funds. That’s over $38 million in perpetual funding for scholarships, not only providing support for the over 1,800 current students who rely on financial aid today but also establishing an enduring foundation for future students and for the college’s long-term financial health.
And the impact of those scholarship funds is not lost on students. “I would not have been able to attend Dickinson without scholarship support,” says Mackenzie Brielmann ’23, a third-generation Dickinsonian, a double major in psychology and dance, and the recipient of the J. Cameron & Helen Frendlich and the Lois Pauley Piper scholarships. “So I think I owe about as much thanks to Dr. Lois Piper ’51 and Mrs. Helen Bott ’44, who established my scholarships, as I do to Dickinson for the confidence, clarity and compassion that will help me get a well-grounded start in that wider world.”
Mackenzie Brielmann '23 discussed the impact of scholarship support on her life at a recent Dickinson event in the Washington, D.C., region.
The permanent funding for scholarships the campaign has provided also plays a key role in the effort to make Dickinson a first-choice college for prospective students, which President Jones has made an institutional priority. That’s because the more funding Dickinson has for scholarships and financial aid, the more capable it will be of enrolling the best and brightest students.
“A scholarship is one of the ways that we can attract the best students—students who are excited and eager to be in a place like Dickinson, including students who think, perhaps, that they may not belong here or may not be able to get into a college like Dickinson, or to college at all," explains Assistant Professor of English Sheela Jane Menon. “It’s one way to open a door to as many students as possible, and to open as many doors as possible for students to get the kind of engaging and vibrant college education they deserve, and which we offer here at Dickinson.”
Though the value of gifts establishing endowed scholarship is huge, gifts of all sizes are playing a powerful role in the campaign. It’s important to note major donors like Sam Rose ’58, who has contributed more than $17.5 million to the campaign and recently provided full scholarships for six incoming students from Ukraine, and thousands of Dickinson Fund donors have also had a huge collective impact through numerous smaller gifts. The median campaign gift thus far has been $50, and half of the campaign’s donors have changed lives with less than $100.
“I give annually because I was afforded the opportunity to attend Dickinson, in part, because of gracious alumni from generations before me,” says Michael Donnelly ’02, assistant to the superintendent for educational services of the Palisades School District and one of those thousands of Dickinson Fund donors who’s consistently supported the campaign with an annual gift. “It’s important to give back to the institution that helped form who I am so that high-school students looking for the ‘right fit’ can find Dickinson and feel a part of a community that they deserve to be a part of for their four years and beyond.”
As the college eyes the campaign’s finish line, it still needs plenty of gifts from Dickinson Fund donors as well as endowed fund donors to reach that $75 million goal. But for Jones, the challenge of completing the last $25 million also presents an outstanding opportunity.
“This is a chance for the worldwide Dickinson community to make a bold statement about the value and vitality of a Dickinson education,” says Jones. “It’s going to take all of us and it’s going to take gifts of every size to get across the finish line and show the world that this life-changing education is critically important to the future. This is an effort that is uniting Dickinsonians across generations from all around the world, so please, join me, join your friends and classmates, join our current students and faculty, and be a part of this historic effort to change lives and change the world through Dickinson.”
To support the campaign, change lives and change the world, make your gift at www.dickinson.edu/gift and choose "Scholarships" as the gift designation.
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Published May 5, 2023