里程碑团聚班支持奖学金

When 50th Reunion Smith Fund team co-chairs Angelica Light ’71 and Suzy McDowell ’71 put out the word that 他们 were looking for a classmate to help establish the class’s endowed scholarship fund, 71岁的黛比·兰斯没有犹豫. She had been planning her 50th Reunion gift to the college and knew she wanted to support scholarships for a special reason.

局域网, 纽约市的一名律师, 从七年级就开始指导艾丽莎·德尔·瓦莱了, when Del Valle was a student living in a neighborhood of New York known at the time as the “killing fields” for its high rates of murder and gang violence. 局域网 had watched Del Valle grow and eventually flourish at Smith on a full scholarship. “I saw that Smith had a really well-thought-through plan for not just admitting students of merit who didn’t have the finances to afford college but for supporting them all along the way. 这真的很强大，”兰斯说. “I knew I wanted to give other people the chances that I had and that Elisa was able to have.”

兰斯对这位澳门葡京博彩软件印象特别深刻, emotional and social programs Smith has in place to support low-income and first generation students like Del Valle, including the Bridge preorientation program for students of color, 为出国留学提供补充经济资源和支持.

德尔·瓦莱赞同这种观点.

“I transcended generational poverty because of my Smith experience, 因为有人相信我的潜力. That started with Debbie and continued with the faculty and staff, 是谁让我在澳门葡京博彩软件公司蒸蒸日上,她说。. Del Valle曾在古巴留学, was her house community adviser and served as president of Wilder House her senior year. She especially credits the staff at the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Emergency Fund for 学生 of Color, 这帮她买了书, 眼镜，甚至护照照片. “There’s a whole social and co-curricular experience low-income students need to partake in to fully participate in the life of the college, 多亏了我所获得的资源，我才能够做到这一点,她说。.

“I transcended generational poverty because of my Smith experience, 因为有人相信我的潜力.”

“经济援助不是慈善,德尔·瓦莱继续说道, who is now the director of social justice and inclusion and a teacher at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, 康涅狄格. “It’s about providing access and opportunity to young people who otherwise wouldn’t know places like Smith even exist. My whole life is different today because I received the support I needed.” And as a leader in the field of social justice and inclusion, 德尔瓦莱现在可以提供指导, 支持和激励新一代的年轻女性.

1971届毕业生齐聚一堂

Hoping her and Del Valle’s experience would inspire her classmates, 局域网 got in touch with Angelica Light ’71 and Suzy McDowell ’71. That meeting resulted in 局域网 making a donation to establish the Class of 1971 Endowed Scholarship Fund, 这是给澳门葡京博彩软件的第50届里程碑式聚会礼物的一部分. A $50,000 match from the Here for Every Voice Gift Matching Program helped kickstart the fund.

局域网 wrote a heartfelt letter to the class of 1971 sharing her and Del Valle’s story and inviting her classmates to donate to the fund. 她在信中写道, “澳门葡京博彩软件教会了(伊莉莎)说出来, 与他人, to harness the power of collective voices and diverse experiences. 她还了解到, though her classmates may have come from very different backgrounds, 他们, 喜欢她, had a common goal—to use what Smith offered to transform not only their own lives but also the lives of others.”

到目前为止, 这个班级已经捐款630多美元,000 toward their $1 million goal in support of the college’s Here for Every Voice initiative to raise $75 million for scholarships.

“Our class has rallied around this fund because we know how a Smith education can change the lives of students and open up worlds 他们 wouldn’t otherwise know,麦克道尔说. 71岁的玛格丽特(佩吉)法雷尔就是这样一个同学. 在收到兰斯给全班的信后, Farrell wrote back: “I would not have been able to attend Smith without financial aid and Smith significantly impacted the trajectory of my life in a very positive way. 我正在安排向基金会捐款. I thought you should know that your letter made a real difference.”

里程碑式聚会捐赠的遗产

里程碑Reunions-25th, 35th, 50th and 60th Reunions—are a special time for classes to celebrate their bonds. 反思的时间, reconnect and revel in both personal and shared Smith experiences, 他们’re also a time for alums to invest in current and future generations of Smithies, 就像他们之前的老校友一样. “Alumnae know it was the generosity of those who preceded them that made their time at Smith possible and that it is now their time to pay it forward and to support the students of today and tomorrow,Jodi Fallon Fern说, Smith’s assistant director for 50th and 60th Milestone Reunions. Milestone classes work with their class volunteers to raise funds for college priorities that are especially meaningful to the class. 对于1971届毕业生来说，这个选择很容易. “We knew we wanted to raise money for The Smith Fund and for scholarships,” says McDowell. “Angelica and I have been extremely proud and grateful for the way our class is stepping up to support our class scholarship fund,她说。.

Fallon Fern was delighted that the class of 1971 chose to support the Here for Every Voice initiative. “A class endowed scholarship fund ensures that the best and brightest students have access to a world-class Smith education regardless of their financial means while leaving an impactful class legacy,她说。. “我们非常感谢71届毕业生.”

本文最初发表于2021年春季 澳门葡京博彩软件校友季刊.

了解更多关于里程碑捐赠计划的信息, contact Jodi Fallon Fern about 50th and 60th Milestone Reunion classes at jfallonfern@wolaipei.com. 联系道恩·海恩斯关于第25和35届里程碑聚会的事 dhines@wolaipei.com. 
For more information about the Here for Every Voice Initiative and to give a gift, 请联系93年的贝琪·卡朋特, 负责发展的副总裁, at ewcarpen@wolaipei.com, 413-585-2052.