Dr. Anton Vander Zee, Assistant Professor of English
English professors tend to love their jobs: they get to share with their students the gifts of reading, writing, and various forms of creative and critical expression. While they put great stock in such gifts, they know that students benefit from material support as well.
In response to that need, and in the interest in creating a more flexible and consistent mechanism for getting money into the hands of well-deserving current students, the College’s English faculty have committed over $1,600 per year via individual payroll deductions to fund a series of English Alumni Scholarship for current students.
These small faculty donations, ranging from $5 to $40 per month, add up from month-to-month and year-to-year. If a small number of faculty contributions can make such an impact, imagine what our dedicated and expansive base of English alumni can accomplish. If just 20 alumni give $10 tax-deductible dollars a month–one-time gifts are also welcome, of course–our total faculty and alumni contribution would total over $4,000 a year. This would be enough to fund awards for students with financial need, students planning to study abroad, students who demonstrate excellence in their creative or critical work, and students who contribute to the broader diversity of the English community.
If 75 alumni gave that same modest sum–$10 a month–we would be able to offer over $10,000 in scholarships to deserving CofC English majors each year. We could extend these awards to transfer students and graduate students as well, and create awards for individual creative and critical works to be awarded at the end of the year. As great as it is to have major endowed gifts, the short term benefits of very modest gifts from a generous alumni base can make a significant impact in the work and lives of our students. We have all been there. We know how much an extra $500 could help to defray costs of studying abroad, or just buying books for the next semester.
Please consider making a recurring or one-time gift to the English Foundation account–following the link will bring you to a page with the English code already entered and ready to go, and your contribution will go directly towards supporting our students.
It’s a quick process, but its impact is sure to be long-lasting. We look forward to sharing stories from recipients of these Alumni Scholarships in future issues of Folio.