$10 Million Gift Endows Scholarships, Sparks Matching Gifts

Smith has received a $10 million gift from an anonymous donor from the Class of 1986, bringing the total raised as part of the college’s Women for the World campaign to $340 million to date.

The gift—among the largest ever to a women’s college—will be used to support endowed student scholarships and inspire matching gifts of $250,000 or more from other scholarship donors.

“This extraordinary gift will shape the lives of generations of Smith women to come,” said President Kathleen McCartney. “It will help us fulfill our commitment to ensuring that a Smith education is available to our exceptional students, regardless of their financial circumstances.”

With a goal of $200 million, endowed scholarship funds are the highest priority of the college’s $450 million Women for the World campaign, which launched in October 2012. Smith is a leader among elite U.S. colleges in the proportion of undergraduates who receive federal need-based Pell Grants—around 22 percent of admitted students.

“Scholarship funds endowed in perpetuity are gifts that keep giving. There is nothing more powerful than philanthropy by women, for women, and this donor’s generosity is a vivid example.”

The New York Times recently ranked Smith as the country’s fourth most economically diverse top college, yet less than half of the college’s scholarship aid budget is currently endowed. By increasing endowed scholarship funds, Smith will strengthen its ability to attract the best-qualified students from around the world who are seeking an exceptional liberal arts education.

“Scholarship funds endowed in perpetuity are gifts that keep giving,” said Beth Raffeld, vice president for development. “There is nothing more powerful than philanthropy by women, for women, and this donor’s generosity is a vivid example.”

Providing scholarship support is one of the best ways donors can have a direct impact on the lives of women and girls by making higher education possible for women who would otherwise not have access, Raffeld said.

The alumna behind the recent $10 million gift “believes deeply in the power of education to change lives,” Raffeld said. “She values her Smith education, and she is now able to give in support of future generations of Smithies.”

Raffeld noted that the donor is particularly excited about inspiring additional philanthropy, and has encouraged Smith to use her gift to match new gifts from other lead donors.

To that end, the college has created a matching gift program called Promise to the Future, through which gifts of $250,000 or more to establish or add to existing endowed scholarship funds will be matched dollar for dollar.

Christine Conklin ’82 of California was the first donor to participate in the Promise to the Future program. For her, giving was personal. “I came to Smith from a good public high school and a solid working-class background,” Conklin said. “I would not have been able to attend Smith without the generous package of grants, scholarships and work-study that Smith offered me all four years.”

Conklin named her gift the Van Dyne Schuster Scholarship Fund in honor of Susan Van Dyne, professor of the Study of Women and Gender, and Marilyn Schuster, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Humanities (the Study of Women and Gender).

Conklin said she envisions the fund as giving students the freedom to discover their strengths, whether in literature, languages, poetry or archives study.

“I want Smith students to continue to come from all kinds of places and backgrounds in order to follow their passions—as well as discover new ones—and then share them with the world,” Conklin said. “I believe that scholarships are the way to guarantee that.”

Applications to Smith are at an all-time high, with a record number of early-decision applications received this spring. Additionally, Smith continues as a national leader in Fulbright success, with 31 Fulbright award finalists in 2015.

The $10 million gift contributes to one of the campaign’s most successful fundraising periods, with $340 million raised to date toward a goal of $450 million by December 31, 2016.

“Thanks to the generosity of alumnae, parents and friends, the Women for the World campaign has tremendous momentum and is making a powerful statement about philanthropic support for women’s education,” Raffeld said.