Affording Opportunity
Becca Ryals F’06 is interested in global climate change. Read more.
Chris Brady D’06 wants to help revitalize urban neighborhoods.
Read more.
President Richard Brodhead, characterizes financial aid as “one of the founding principles of the university.”
Watch the video.
(You'll need Quicktime to watch.)
Celebrating Scholarships and Fellowships
Each year, Duke holds a special event to recognize and celebrate scholarship and fellowship donors, honorees, and student recipients. This year’s event was a dinner at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club on October 20, 2006. About 250 people attended, including more than 70 scholarship recipients. Members of the Student Advisory Council created an informal slide presentation shown at the reception which underscored the importance of financial aid at Duke and highlighted related national issues. Sally Dalton Robinson, co-chair of Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative, presided over the dinner program.
Robinson told the assembled guests, “I know that the donors who are here tonight will go away inspired and even exhilarated by the opportunity they have had to get to know these scholars, and those scholars who are with us will leave more reassured than ever that there are many Duke alums, parents, and friends who are passionately committed to doing all they can to ensure that qualified students never have to forgo a Duke education because of financial constraints.”
President Richard Brodhead and senior Diana Perez were the evening’s featured speakers.
You can listen to excerpts from their remarks here.
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Duke recently hosted its annual celebration of scholarships and fellowships, and as those of you who attended know, it was a wonderful chance to connect many of our financial aid donors with the recipients of their support. So many bright, talented young people would not be at Duke if it weren’t for financial aid. They are what Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative is all about. We’re working hard to raise $300 million in endowment to ensure that Duke is able to continue to meet the financial needs of its students in perpetuity.
Please help us spread the word about Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative and the dollar for dollar challenge that has already inspired so many people to give generously. And to those of you who are giving your time and your financial support to this important effort, we offer our deepest thanks.
| Sally Dalton Robinson W’55 |
G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. T’75 |
| Co-Chairs, Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative |
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School-by-School Update
Below is an update on fund-raising progress for each component of the overall $300 million goal.
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Goal |
Amount Raised |
| Undergraduates |
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| Need-Based Aid |
$230 |
$74.3 |
| Athletic Scholarships |
$15 |
$15.7 |
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| Graduate and Professional Students |
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| Divinity School |
$10 |
$6.7 |
| Fuqua School of Business |
$4 |
$4.8 |
| Graduate School |
$10 |
$5.8 |
| Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences |
$5 |
$3.7 |
| School of Law |
$10 |
$7.6 |
| School of Medicine |
$12 |
$8.6 |
| School of Nursing |
$4 |
$1.3 |
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| Unclaimed Challenge Funds |
|
$66.0 |
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| Total Raised (as of 12/2/06) |
$300 |
$194.6 |
| in millions |
Student Speaker Competition
This year, for the first time, the student speaker for the scholarship and fellowship recognition event was selected through a competitive process. The Student Advisory Council for Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative sent an email to 2,200 sophomore, junior, and senior financial aid recipients inviting them to enter the competition; and staff members working on the Financial Aid Initiative reviewed applications and selected the winner.
Congratulations to the winner, Diana Perez, and to the five other finalists:
Madeleine Daley T’09, Cheryl Ho T’08, Millicent Okereke T’07, Grace Shih T’08, and Jimmy Soni T’07.
Read more from the finalists' speeches. |
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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:
L. Watts Hamrick III T’81, B’82 and Carol Hamrick committed $100,000 to establish the Carol and Watts Hamrick Scholarship at the Fuqua School of Business. Their gift will be matched with funds from the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge to create a $200,000 scholarship endowment supporting MBA students.
Richard B. Lieb T’69 and Kathryn Crommelin Lieb W’69 have given $1 million to fund undergraduate scholarships and graduate fellowships at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy. “Neither of us could have attended Duke without the financial aid we received as students,” said Kathryn Lieb. “We made this gift to enable other students to attend Duke and benefit from the kind of educational experience that meant so much to us.” Read more.
T. Benjamin Massey T’48 and Bylee Hunnicutt Massey have established deferred gift annuities which will provide their children with an income stream in their retirement years and will ultimately be used to fund a need-based scholarship in Trinity College. “If we don’t support the students who have financial need, then we miss out on at least half of our nation’s future leaders,” Benjamin Massey said. Read more.
Don Russell T’55, P’87 and Guerry Russell P’87 established the Don J. & Guerry B. Russell Family Scholarship with gifts and pledges totaling approximately $322,000. Their contributions will be matched with funds from the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge to create a $644,000 scholarship endowment supporting Trinity College undergraduates.
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DUBAC Supports Reggie Howard Scholars
The Duke University Black Alumni Connection (DUBAC) is working to raise $350,000 or more in new endowment for the Reggie Howard Scholars program. Gifts will be matched dollar for dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge, doubling the impact of each contribution. 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.
DUBAC has already received commitments totaling more than $82,000, and DUBAC members and other interested donors continue to make new commitments. DUBAC has planned a series of regional dinners for 2007 to promote this fund-raising effort.
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.
Two Good Reasons to Make a Gift in 2006
(1) Avoid capital gain taxes. With the Dow Jones Industrial Average hitting record highs, this could be an excellent year to start or complete a gift to financial aid endowment. When you donate appreciated securities to Duke, you avoid taxes on your capital gain and also generate a charitable income tax deduction for the full value of the donated securities. Make a gift of stock online
(2) Take advantage of a new tax law. Recent legislation contains a temporary provision that allows donors age 70 1/2 or older to 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 during 2006 and 2007. A direct rollover will be much better for most donors than a taxable withdrawal followed by a gift. Learn more.
FACT
In 2005-06, Duke spent more than $143 million on financial aid grants to support thousands of undergraduates, graduate students, and professional school students.
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