More Bang for Your Buck: Alumnae Team Boosts Dickinson Scholarships
New Scholarship, $60K Challenge Announced
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson
The class of 1989’s Amy Barefoot, Gretchen Brigden and Ashley Brookes Richardson didn’t join their reunion committee with intentions of establishing a scholarship, but when the opportunity came knocking, they answered the call. Their Class of 1989 Scholarship inspired tremendous support from their classmates. And, fresh from that success, they upped the ante, issuing a Day of Giving challenge to all Dickinsonians and friends of the college in support of Dickinson scholarships.
Again, the Dickinson community responded, and in a big way.
Tremendous trio
Barefoot, the daughter of first-generation college students, attended Dickinson on scholarship. She declared a major in sociology and a minor in anthropology, worked as a student-trainer for the athletics department and as a tutor and sang with the college choir. Today, Barefoot channels her social-science-major insights as co-founder and owner of a niche legal and regulatory newsletter.
Brigden, an economics major and the first in her family to attend a residential college, worked as a resident advisor, spent a summer in Toulouse, founded a college chapter of Habitat for Humanity and was involved through the Ski Club, Omicron Delta Kappa and Delta Nu. She says she applies the critical thinking and leadership skills she gained as an undergrad as co-founder and COO of an independent research firm.
Richardson, majoring in American studies and English, learned to lead through Tri Delt volunteer projects. While not a scholarship recipient, she learned the importance of scholarship support through conversations with classmates and friends. She has achieved success in residential real estate, in part thanks to her American-studies coursework. “As an American-studies major, I learned to listen carefully, think critically and understand different viewpoints,” she explains. “I’m grateful for that, because I use those skills in my work every day.”
More bang for your buck!
By pooling their scholarship giving, these alumnae created a $60,000 challenge that applied to all scholarship gifts made during Dickinson's 2024 Day of Giving (April 2).. The funds were to be unlocked once the college received 500 or more total scholarship gifts.
In the end, the college far surpassed that goal, logging 878 total scholarship gifts during the 2024 daylong event.
That spells a big bang for every buck: In addition to unlocking $60,000 in overall scholarship support, all 2024 Day of Giving scholarship gifts were also applied to Sam Rose ’58’s $10 million Change a Life Challenge as well as the college's multiyear Campaign for Scholarships goal, providing scholarship funds for every admitted student with demonstrated need.
And these are only a few of the more than a dozen successful challenges that helped make Dickinson's 10th-annual Day of Giving another rousing success.
Richardson, with no children of her own to send to college, said she welcomed the chance to help give a leg up to a new generation of learners in this way. So do Barefoot and Brigden, who each established separate scholarships prior to this year.
“I would not be where I am now without those four years at Dickinson,” says Brigden, who serves as a Dickinson trustee. “Giving back--and celebrating who we are and who we were, through the reunion--is pure joy.”
And gifts of all sizes helped Dickinson the reach the challenge goal, Barefoot stressed.
“I encourage people to think about giving whatever they can. Because while big gifts are nice, the little gifts also really add up,” said Barefoot, a former Dickinson admissions volunteer who’s given back to Dickinson consistently since graduation. “I also encourage people to just come out to the reunion this year and see how much fun it is to see each other again.”
This article, originally published on March 25, 2024, was updated on April 11, 2024.
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Published March 25, 2024