5 minute read
Ensuring the Accessibility of Education
BY MORGAN HILL (EPSILON ZETA, AUBURN UNIVERSITY), FOUNDATION COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST, AND ERIN PARKS (ALPHA CHI, BUTLER UNIVERSITY), FOUNDATION OPERATIONS MANAGER
The Individual Support priority of the Foundation’s Common Bond. Uncommon Impact. campaign seeks to help ease the financial burden that some Alpha Chi Omega members face while in school. Endowed academic assistance funds provide grants for collegiate and alumnae members to help pay for educational expenses.
This transformative difference for sisters begins with donations to the Foundation’s academic assistance funds. Gifts to create and grow these funds have a meaningful impact on individual members and help improve member retention and chapter academic success. In addition, giving to an endowed fund in honor of a sister who changed your life is a great way to make an uncommon impact.
Alma Scroggins (Alpha Upsilon, The University of Alabama) says, “Jewel Patterson Howard was chapter advisor of the Alpha Upsilon chapter at The University of Alabama when I pledged in 1967. She was vivacious, supportive and encouraging. At that time, I didn’t realize she was just a few years older than me! Now all these years later Jewel still provides recruitment support and has for over 35 years. Supporting the Jewel Patterson Howard Scholarship Fund endowed in her honor is my way of showing appreciation for her loyalty to all our sisters.”
Donors can give to existing endowed funds or establish a new one, like Emilie Beagle (Upsilon, Millikin University) did!
“As a long-term chapter advisor, I’ve seen firsthand how the rising cost of higher education affects our members. I believe in the experience AXΩ provides collegians and don’t want finances to be the reason someone can’t participate. I’m blessed to be in a position to create a fund, so I chose to establish an educational assistance fund for members from my chapter of initiation. I love watching how the grant enables our members to continue growing in Alpha Chi Omega with less financial stress.”
After academic assistance funds have been established, they are included in the list of grants for which collegiate and alumnae members apply through the annual application. Once the application closes, the volunteer Scholarships Committee reviews all merit-based applications while the Educational Assistance Grants Committee reviews the need-based applications.
Dena Norrod (Delta Zeta, Central Michigan University) serves as the chair of the Scholarships Committee and shares, “It is a joy to be able to recognize the amazing work that Alpha Chi Omega women are doing. To see the heights that these real, strong women are able to reach is a privilege, and I love being part of the team that rewards these activities with grants to help with their educational expenses.”
Alleviating the financial burden of education allows sisters to thrive in the Alpha Chi experience. Tracy Coleman (Zeta Omicron, Vanderbilt University) served on the Educational Assistance Grants Committee for seven years, the last four as chair. She says, “Alpha Chi Omega Foundation scholarships and grants give sisters a boost, a little breathing room, so they can stay engaged and enjoy the fulfilling collegiate experience that we all had.”
Scholarships are merit-based academic grants.
Educational assistance grants are need-based academic grants.
Academic assistance grants is the collective term for all scholarships and educational assistance grants awarded by the Foundation.
Once the applications have been reviewed by the committees, award decisions are made. It’s no easy task, as the need is great and there are so many real, strong women pursuing academic success! Many members work during the school year to help pay for their education, and these awards can give them more time for classwork, extracurriculars and Alpha Chi Omega.
“Being able to make an impact on students is something that, as a future educator, I am incredibly appreciative of. Students are given opportunities they wouldn’t have had otherwise,” says Hannah Davis (Alpha Nu, University of Missouri), one of this year’s recipients. “For me, this [grant] means being able to cut back on the number of hours I am working each week to focus more on academics!”
The recipients of academic assistance grants are pursuing educational dreams in countless fields and disciplines, all while developing confidence, leadership and personal growth through Alpha Chi Omega.
As recipient Katie Reynolds (Gamma Pi, University of Tampa) shares, “This honorable award will help me pursue my goals in medicine as an empowering woman in science. I am grateful for the opportunities Alpha Chi Omega has brought me thus far, and I am passionate about making a difference for this organization moving forward!”
Recipient Lauren Paque (Alpha, DePauw University) echoes that sentiment, saying, “Alpha Chi has been such a meaningful organization to be part of, pushing me to be my academic best while developing true sisterhood. It is an honor to be awarded this scholarship, and it inspires me to keep working hard!”
Do you want to make a difference, too? Give now at www. alphachiomega.org/ foundation/givingopportunities/specialfunds or contact the Foundation to learn how to endow a fund.
Be part of the uncommon impact and support sisters like AnnaMaria Fernandez (Zeta Chi, Muhlenberg College), who says, “Aside from my multitudinous thanks, I know that there is no combination of words that can properly express how grateful I am to Alpha Chi Omega for its aid in my pursuance of education.”
