Affording Opportunity
Before his freshman year, Andrew Tutt E'09 searched Duke’s website for ways to get involved.
Read more.
Ashley Wynsong M'09 believes aid packages will be increasingly important to medical students.
Read more.
PhD students like Kinohi Nishikawa G'08 are a vital part of the Duke community.
Read more.
The Duke Annual Fund and
Financial Aid
During the 2006-07 fiscal year, the Duke Annual Fund received more than $26.5 million in unrestricted operating support from more than 45,000 donors, surpassing the previous year's total for the 32nd consecutive year. “We’re very grateful to the financial aid donors who also support the Annual Fund and the Annual Fund donors who decide to create a scholarship,” said Mark Stalnecker T’73, chairman of the Annual Fund Executive Committee and a supporter of Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative. “Duke is extremely dependent on its operating budget to support financial aid, so unrestricted gifts to the Annual Fund play a big role in helping the university meet student need each year.”
Family Giving
“Creating a family scholarship is great way to teach children the value of charitable giving,” said Colleen Fitzpatrick, associate dean for advancement in Arts & Sciences and Trinity College. Barbara T’75 and Fred T’73 Sutherland are among the Duke parents who have done so. “At our last Financial Aid Initiative Development Committee meeting, we discussed the value of involving children in philanthropic decisions,” said Barbara. “Our sons are both Duke alumni too, so establishing a family scholarship was a natural fit for us. Every year, whether we add to the fund or not, we’ll all hear from Duke about the students our scholarship is supporting, and we can visit campus and meet these kids in person. We can see the impact of our gift.”
Duke has also had a number of families make a scholarship gift honoring a loved one. Christie Carson Whitehouse approached the Divinity School about establishing a scholarship in the name of her late father. "I think my father would have felt that a divinity student was answering a higher calling, one especially deserving of support because it doesn't come with the monetary benefits of many advanced degrees," she said. The scholarship honoring William L. Carson T'38 was a multi-generational effort led by Mrs. Whitehouse, her siblings, her husband, Greg, their son, Gordon T'07, and her mother, Kathleen Carson.
|
Duke has now received over $230 million in gifts and pledges to financial aid endowment as part of the Financial Aid Initiative. Heartfelt thanks to all of our devoted donors and volunteers, whose generosity and hard work will benefit Duke students for generations to come. During the final 18 months of the initiative, we must pay particular attention to our most ambitious goal: support for need-based undergraduate aid. Fortunately, much of our challenge fund is devoted to this purpose, so most undergraduate scholarship gifts of $100,000 or more can still be matched dollar for dollar.
For those of you who may be considering a gift to financial aid endowment, please know that we consider our own scholarship gifts to be among the most rewarding financial contributions we have ever made to Duke. The university writes to scholarship donors every single year to update us on the students our funds are supporting, and we also have the opportunity to meet and get to know our scholars on campus. Please think about joining us in this joyous venture.
Thanks again to the initiative’s supporters, and best wishes to all for a happy and healthy summer.
| Sally Dalton Robinson W’55 |
G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. T’75 |
| Co-Chairs, Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative |
|
IMPACT
Donors to new and existing scholarship funds
2,239
New scholarships established
285
|
 |
School-by-School Update
Below is an update on fund-raising progress for each component of the overall $300 million goal.
| |
Goal |
Amount Raised |
| Undergraduates |
|
|
| Need-Based Aid |
$230 |
$118.5 |
| Athletic Scholarships |
$15 |
$17.0 |
| |
|
|
| Graduate and Professional Students |
|
|
| Divinity School |
$10 |
$8.9 |
| Fuqua School of Business |
$4 |
$6.5 |
| Graduate School |
$10 |
$7.4 |
| Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences |
$5 |
$4.4 |
| School of Law |
$10 |
$9.1 |
| School of Medicine |
$12 |
$10.7 |
| School of Nursing |
$4 |
$2.2 |
| |
|
|
| Unclaimed Challenge Funds |
|
$45.7 |
| |
|
|
| Total Raised (as of 6/30/07) |
$300 |
$230.4 |
| in millions |
Recent Gifts
The Financial Aid Initiative has received gifts from hundreds of generous donors. Below are just a few examples of the kinds of gifts that Duke has received:
• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation of Seattle contributed $10 million to support scholarships for undergraduates and business school students. Read more.
• Duke parents Susan and David Viniar made a $500,000 commitment to establish the Viniar Family Scholarship Fund for need-based undergraduate financial aid. This follows last year’s $500,000 commitment, which created a scholarship fund for student athletes. “Our whole family is happy to be able to invest in future Duke students,” said Susan Viniar, “and what better time to do it than now, when Duke’s challenge fund can match our gifts?”
• Aleksandar Sedmak, together with his father, Stojan Sedmak, contributed $250,000 to establish a scholarship at the Pratt School of Engineering to honor the wishes of Aleksandar Sedmak Vesic and Milena Sedmak Vesic. The late Dr. Vesic served as dean of the School of Engineering from 1974 to 1982.
• To honor the late Melissa Anne Hagberg T’06, her parents, Margaret and William, and siblings, Barbara, Kelsey and William Hagberg, along with Elizabeth Nations T’06, Melissa’s college roommate, and her parents, Marlene and Harold Nations, established a $100,000 scholarship fund in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. This endowment provides a permanent tribute to Melissa at Duke and commemorates the love her family and friends had for her.
• The Crown family of Chicago contributed $5 million to support scholarships and summer fellowships for undergraduate students. Read more.
Life Income Gifts Can Support Financial Aid
Duke offers a variety of life income gift options that can provide donors and their loved ones with an income for life or for a specific number of years. Some gift options provide a fixed income; others provide an income that fluctuates with market values. A new ruling from the IRS allows Duke to invest some life income gifts with the university’s endowment. While past performance is no promise of future growth, Duke’s endowment has consistently been one of the top-performing university endowments in the nation. To learn more about supporting a scholarship with a life income gift, contact Duke’s Office of Gift Planning.
Tax-Free IRA Rollovers through 2007
Donors age 70 1/2 or older can still make a direct, tax-free rollover of up to $100,000 from a traditional or Roth IRA to a qualified charitable organization such as Duke—but only until the end of 2007. A direct rollover will be much better for most donors than a taxable withdrawal followed by a gift. Learn more about this temporary legislation.
Supporting the Reggie Howard Scholars
The Duke University Black Alumni Connection (DUBAC) has been working hard to raise new endowment for the Reggie Howard Scholars program. DUBAC and the Duke Alumni Association (DAA) have co-hosted events in Durham, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, and New York, and plans are underway for events in Charlotte, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Janet Hill P’94, Duke trustee, and Johnny Dawkins T’86, associate head coach of Duke men’s basketball, have been among the featured speakers. Melvia Wallace T’85, member of the DAA board of directors and former president of DUBAC, has been leading this effort.
As of June 30, 2006, DUBAC had raised $340,000 in new gifts and pledges for the Reggie Howard Scholars program. All gifts are being matched dollar for dollar. Reggie Howard Scholarships commemorate the first minority student elected president of the Duke student government. These scholarships provide full tuition and funding for enrichment opportunities to talented students of African heritage.
Learn more about the Reggie Howard Scholarship program, and meet some of the current scholars..
Contact Julie Allen at (919) 684-5256 or julie.allen@duke.edu to make a gift as part of DUBAC's fund-raising effort.
|
|
