Giving Life to Dreams Scholarship Impact Report
Dear Fellow Scholarship Donors: The Dickinson experience goes far beyond
But your impact doesn’t end with these
traditional classroom education. Students
students. With more than half of the
discover their passions, develop into leaders
college’s students relying on financial aid
and become engaged global citizens through
to afford Dickinson, scholarship giving has
service-learning trips, study-abroad experi-
become—and will continue to be—
ences, one-of-a-kind performance opportu-
increasingly vital to the college. When you
nities, athletics, one-on-one mentorship and
support scholarships, you are truly “giving
student-faculty research.
life to dreams.” You’re enabling students to live their dreams at Dickinson and beyond,
Of course, this active and engaged style
and you’re giving life to our dreams for the
of learning costs much more than simply
college as an engine for upward mobility
giving students textbooks, delivering
and social good.
lectures and passing out multiple-choice tests. As a result, even as the college
As scholarship donors ourselves, we deeply
maximizes efficiencies, tuition continues
appreciate your commitment to making
to rise. Yet we know we cannot allow this
the Dickinson experience affordable and
transformational educational experience to
unlocking the potential in students facing
be afforded only to the wealthy.
economic challenges. Thank you for your investment in tomorrow.
This is where dedicated scholarship donors come in. You enable students like those
Sincerely,
profiled in this report not only to change their lives by coming to Dickinson, but also to learn to change the world. Each year, we look forward to meeting these students, who help us to appreciate the true power
Amy Nauiokas ’94 and Harry Harrison First in America Campaign Co-chairs
of scholarship gifts. I hope this report gives
Cover: Carl Sander Socolow ’77
you the chance to do the same.
Finding an Extra Voice Alexander Strachan ’13. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 From the Tropics to the Pennsylvania Shale Ruby Stanmyer ’13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 A Global Citizen Christian Beitel ’13. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Learning to Make a Difference Emily Eckardt ’13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Fuel for the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
AT DICKINSON, SCHOL ARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID
are not a luxury.
This report is published by the Office of College Advancement. Questions or comments may be directed to Tara Renault, director of donor relations, at 800-543-3809 or advancement@dickinson.edu.
Ruby Stanmyer ’13
IN FACT, EACH YEAR THEY BECOME MORE AND MORE OF A NECESSIT Y.
There is no way to sufficiently tell scholarship donors how much their gift has meant.
Table of Contents
|1|
a l e x a n d e r s t r a c h a n ’ 1 3 | Music
THANK YOU SO MUCH.
You’ve changed my life AND GIVEN ME AN OPPORTUNIT Y TO BE SUCCESSFUL. |2|
Finding an Extra Voice For Alexander Strachan ’13, music takes on a larger role in life Choosing a college can be a challenging process, but for Alexander Strachan ’13, all it took was a visit to campus for a violin audition with Associate Professor of Music Blanka Bednarz. “I said to myself, ‘I love it here. This is it,’ ” he says. “I just knew it from meeting Professor Bednarz that I wanted to be here. Even though I only had an hour with her, I felt like I had known her for years.” Like many students, Strachan attends Dickinson with the help of a scholarship, and for him, receiving it was life-changing. “Before coming to Dickinson, I just wasn’t in an area where I had a lot of opportunities,” says the music major from Bowie, Md. “I think Dickinson is where my calling is, and thanks to financial aid, my parents could afford it.”
Carl Sander Socolow ’77
Last year Dickinson gave Strachan the opportunity to explore how music can cross international borders. During winter break, Bednarz helped him win a spot as a violinist for Sinfonietta Polonia, and he performed with the group throughout Poland on a two-week tour.
Strachan’s goal is to use that extra voice to pursue a career in music therapy, and he cites the power of music to connect people and make a difference in the world as his greatest motivator. “My grandmother has Alzheimer’s,” he explains, “and I’ve sat at the piano and played with her, and she tells me stories about how she’d play piano in church with the choir. So to be able to play the piano with her, it took her back, and if I hadn’t done this, she wouldn’t remember. If I can do that for other people, I’m happy.” That happiness and the happiness Strachan will bring to others results not only from the experiences he’s been able to have at Dickinson, but also from the scholarship gifts that made those experiences possible. “If I could speak directly to scholarship donors, I would say, ‘Thank you so much,’ ” says Strachan. “You’ve changed my life and given me an opportunity to be successful. I hope I can continue on this path and spread the joy of music to people in need.”
“It was really awesome to be able to perform in a different country,” says Strachan, who has come to see the violin as a way to transcend language. “For me the violin is my extra voice. It’s how I can sing. It’s how I can express those innermost feelings that sometimes can’t be put into words.”
|3|
Environmental Science | ru by s ta n m ye r ’ 1 3
DICKINSON HAS GIVEN ME THE CHANCE
to go outside my comfort zone
AND SEE THE WORLD.
|4|
From the Tropics to the Pennsylvania Shale Ruby Stanmyer ’13 wants to make a difference, and Dickinson is giving her a leg up When screening potential colleges, Ruby Stanmyer ’13 looked for a smaller, more intimate setting than those sought by most of her high-school friends. And with Dickinson, she found that—but she also found herself at the far reaches of the world and in headline-grabbing locales right in Central Pennsylvania.
“The environmental-science classes, as well as my time at ALLARM [Alliance for Aquatic Resource Monitoring], have given me scientific tools and experience that have made me much more confident and able to interact and work in the ‘real world,’ ” she says. “All of which has prepared me to enter the job market.”
“In Costa Rica, through the School for Field Studies (SFS), I studied sustainable development in a tropical setting,” she says. “And I have gotten involved on the frontlines of Marcellus Shale gas extraction and have worked with communities all around Pennsylvania who are dealing with it. Dickinson has given me the chance to go outside my comfort zone and see the world.”
It’s no secret that attending college can be an expensive endeavor, but Stanmyer was able to use a scholarship and financial aid to help her make her way, and she is effusive in relating what that has meant to the big picture.
Carl Sander Socolow ’77
Stanmyer, an environmental-science major, wants to go into the Peace Corps after graduation, and her study-abroad experience—the SFS and Dickinson in Norwich programs—has laid a solid foundation for such a path.
“College is so expensive these days that it can be extremely difficult to afford it, and the fact that I have been able to do so is incredible,” she says. “There is no way to sufficiently tell scholarship donors how much their gift has meant. I have loved my three-plus years at Dickinson, and I know it’s going to take me places I never would have been able to go.”
“I was able to become much more independent,” she says, “and the experiences opened my eyes to so much about global cultures, ideas and people.” Paired with her strong out-of-the-classroom experiences is the practical knowledge she has culled from Dickinson’s environmentalscience program. |5|
c h r i s t i a n b e i t e l ’ 1 3 | International Studies, Spanish
YOU’RE GIVING
life to students’ dreams.
|6|
A Global Citizen Christian Beitel ’13 finds leadership, confidence and a global perspective at Dickinson Christian Beitel ’13’s time at Dickinson has been full to the point of overflowing. In just three years he has played on two Centennial Conference champion lacrosse teams, completed a semester abroad and a summer-long independent study on Dickinson’s globaleducation efforts in Málaga, Spain, and completed the first section of the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Course—all while double majoring in international studies and Spanish. “If you want something, go and get it,” Beitel says. “Dickinson has shown me I can do that.” As a high-school student in Newtown, Conn., Beitel was attracted to Dickinson because it offered him the chance to play lacrosse while still having the chance to study abroad and benefit from a useful liberal-arts education in a small, close-knit community. But he knew that the price tag presented a daunting challenge.
Carl Sander Socolow ’77
“I loved Dickinson so much that I applied here and nowhere else,” he says. “If I hadn’t gotten enough aid, I would have had to go somewhere else, I guess.” Thanks to generous scholarship donors, Beitel didn’t have to guess. He received sufficient financial aid to come to Dickinson, where he has been able to study international relations and gain fluency in Spanish not only through
small classes, but also by living in Málaga, interacting daily with its people and coming to love and respect its rich cultural history. “There’s something about actually being there that you can’t get from reading books, watching movies or pointing out cities on a map,” Beitel explains. “Going to foreign cities with like-minded Dickinsonians and fully being immersed in the Spanish culture have changed me for the better.” Poised to graduate this spring, Beitel eyes the future with confidence. He’s considering completing his officer training to become a second lieutenant in the Marines or looking into teaching and coaching opportunities. Whatever he does, Beitel knows he wants his work to make a difference—and he knows scholarship donors have already made a significant difference in his life. “You’re not just giving your money to an arbitrary cause,” says Beitel. “It goes toward the formation of global citizens who are going to go out into the world and pay it forward after four years of working hard to better ourselves and the college. You’re giving life to students’ dreams.”
|7|
I NOTICE CONNECTIONS ALL THE TIME BETWEEN MY
e m i l y e c k a r d t ’ 1 3 | Women’s & Gender Studies
volunteer work and my classes.
|8|
Learning to Make a Difference Emily Eckardt ’13 combines coursework and community service to learn how to make an impact As a women’s & gender studies major and political-science minor at Dickinson, Emily Eckardt ’13 isn’t just learning about cultural stereotypes and policy making—she’s learning how to make a difference. That’s because, in addition to her coursework, Eckardt has taken on a full slate of service-learning projects ranging from Serve the World trips to New Orleans, Philadelphia and Arizona to volunteer positions at the Carlisle C.A.R.E.S emergency shelter and the local YWCA Rape Crisis Center.
Carl Sander Socolow ’77
“I notice connections all the time between my volunteer work and my classes,” she explains. “The interconnectedness of my interdisciplinary academics and community work has been incredible. My goal is to work from the personal to policy level, ensuring that all people— regardless of gender, class, race or culture— have equal opportunity.” But Eckardt hasn’t just confined herself to the U.S. She also has studied abroad in Germany and India, adding a vital global dimension to her growing understanding of social justice. “Having that opportunity to become immersed in other cultures showed me the validity of different approaches to individuality and justice,” she says. “That understanding of multiculturalism will be really important to any nonprofit or counseling work I do—especially in a diverse community.”
Eckardt isn’t waiting until graduation to start that work. She recently earned her certification to teach English as a second language at Carlisle’s Employment Skills Center, and this semester she’s trying her hand at grant writing for Carlisle C.A.R.E.S. and establishing support groups for the shelter’s previous guests—all while working on an application for a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in India. “I found it was easy to step off campus and get involved in the community,” she says. “I’ve gotten comfortable working with any population, and I’ve gained a lot of amazing skills.” This wouldn’t have been possible, Eckardt notes, without the scholarship that allowed her to come to Dickinson. In fact, she almost didn’t even apply; tuition at first just seemed too high. Fortunately, she did, hoping scholarship donors would make up the difference so that she could make a difference as well. “Dickinson has been transformational for me,” she explains. “My life would be completely different without the scholarship that I received. I’ve not only had the opportunity to thrive in a small community here on campus, but I’ve gotten to travel the world—all while learning how I can have an impact on the wider world.”
|9|
Fuel for the Future The importance of endowed scholarships at Dickinson and beyond A residential liberal-arts education is special. Only three percent of the nation’s college students benefit from this kind of personalized, interdisciplinary learning environment. Each decade, fewer institutions like Dickinson can weather the financial pressures that come with such a unique educational experience. From 1990 to 2009, researchers indicate, the number of the nation’s classic liberal-arts college’s dropped from 212 to 136. Yet there is irrefutable evidence that this increasingly rare brand of higher education delivers a decided edge to graduates—and those graduates make a greater impact on global society, the arts, sciences, technology, commerce and civil service than do graduates from other institutions. Consider that though only 3 percent of graduates hail from liberal-arts colleges, those graduates account for: • nearly 20 percent of all U.S. presidents • roughly 20 percent of Pulitzer Prize winners in drama, history and poetry from 1960 to 1998
• almost twice as many doctorates in science as non-liberal-arts graduates • and approximately 1 in 12 of the nation’s top CEOs. Clearly, the liberal arts remain vitally important to our nation, and indeed, our world. At Dickinson this is doubly true. Here, that rich liberal-arts experience incorporates global dimensions, addresses emerging 21st-century challenges like sustainability and security studies and uses active learning in the arts and sciences to help students become leaders and engaged citizens. We achieve our unique brand of education through investment in small classes, professors who are highly skilled teachers as well as scholars, a residential experience that promotes personal growth and social responsibility, and a multitude of opportunities to learn outside the classroom—only a handful of which you read about in this report.
You’re not just giving money to an arbitrary cause. It goes toward the
formation of global citizens
who go out into the world and pay it forward. —Christian Beitel ’13 | 10 |
Doing More with Less Endowment Values
Annual Financial Aid Budget Wealthiest Liberal-Arts Colleges
Dickinson $355.8 million
Dickinson
Peer Institution Average $550 million
$1.5 billion (and rising)
$37.6 million
Peer Institution Average
Wealthiest Liberal-Arts Colleges
$29.8 million
$35 million
Naturally, this high-touch, high-impact experience costs more than the static, passive education offered by the large majority of colleges and universities. Accordingly, Dickinson has invested its endowment wisely, outperforming the investment returns of our peers consistently over the years. But the much smaller size of our endowment has meant that we have had to do far more with less.
The college remains committed to providing the funds to bring the kind of students to campus that astonish us with their talents. However, doing so has a very real cost. From 2008 to 2012, the college has increased its investment in financial aid by 47 percent, and that need continues to rise. Your gifts help provide the assistance that permits families to consider Dickinson as an affordable option.
Our ability to provide the Dickinson experience to future leaders begins with giving students and their families access. Your scholarship support provides the fuel for the future by enabling students to begin their journeys here at Dickinson.
To fully cover the financial need of our students today with dedicated endowment resources would require more than $700 million. Currently, roughly $82 million of the endowment—which has been provided by generous donors like you—is dedicated to financial aid and scholarships.
Annual Investment in Financial Aid $37.6 million $35.8 million $31.7 million $27.8 million $25.6 million
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
| 11 |
More Endowed Scholarship Funding Needed ANNUAL FINANCIAL AID BUDGET
DICKINSON TOTAL ENDOWMENT
$355.8 million
$273.4 million
$81.6 million
Portion Committed to Other Areas
Portion Committed to Scholarships and Financial Aid
To ensure funding for future generations, the Board of Trustees has adopted a policy of spending only 5 percent of the average market value of the current $82 million in endowed scholarships annually (approximately $4 million). The gap between the $37 million needed for financial aid and the $4 million provided by the endowment is filled in each year by the college’s annual operating budget. To balance the needs of our students and maintain financial stability, however, we must narrow that gap in the future. More endowed funds dedicated to scholarships and financial aid are the only way we can continue to fuel the future by offering the Dickinson experience to the best students, regardless of wealth.
$37.6 million
$33.52 $363 million million
$4.08 million
Funded by Operating Budget
Funded by Endowment
To that end, the second phase of First in America: Building Our Tomorrow aims to raise an additional $30 million in endowed scholarship support. As Dickinson builds its capacity to give life to dreams with scholarships for students in need, we will continue to rely on generous donors like you. For each student, your gifts truly are the fuel for the future. You allow them to begin their journey and provide the bridge to their successful tomorrows. But your gifts also fuel Dickinson’s future and give life to all of our dreams for the college. It is only with your commitment and generosity that we will be able to ensure that the distinctive and vital liberal-arts education Dickinson offers remains a possibility for future generations.
Thank you.
College is so expensive these days that it can be
extremely difficult to afford it, and the fact that I have been able to do so is incredible. —Ruby Stanmyer ’13
| 12 |
I can have an impact on the wider world it’s going to take me places I never would have been able to go
changed me for the better
Dickinson is where my calling is
thank you so much
thank you so much
experiences opened my eyes
I LOVE IT HERE
pay it forward
TRANSFORMATIONAL
to become much more independent
you’ve changed my life I’ve gained a lot of amazing skills
PREPARED ME TO ENTER THE JOB MARKET
My life would be completely different without the scholarship
Depth, Destiny: Dickinson Collectively, scholarship gifts make a difference for Dickinson students, who go on to make a difference in the world. Together, with our combined support, we can continue to lead the way for the future of our college and the engaged citizen leaders who discover their passions and find their callings here.
Thank you! For more information, visit www.dickinson.edu/giving.