"No student of superior promise should be turned away due to lack of means." These were the words scrawled decisively by Matthew Vassar into his last will and testament before his death in 1868.
With this final declaration, our founder left $50,000 to establish the College's first endowed scholarship fund to ensure that his then-progressive ideas of equal access and affordability be preserved. Indeed, Vassar's very founding was based on making an excellent education available to those to whom it was previously denied. Starting in 1861, young women who couldn't attend Harvard or Yale could receive the world's best liberal arts education at Vassar. And, from the very beginning, resources were made available to students and families who needed scholarship assistance. Matthew Vassar's original gift made this possible.
Today, our founder's dream is being realized; with a need-blind admissions policy in place and nearly 60 percent of students receiving need-based assistance, the College has clearly placed financial aid at the core of its mission. Just this year—despite nursing considerable losses to its endowment due to the global financial crisis—Vassar plans to increase its aid budget by an outstanding 11.1 percent.
Consciously increasing Vassar's resources in this area is not only our moral obligation; it is also a strategic decision. First-generation students, students from urban areas and a new wave of young immigrants constitute the fastest-growing segments of the college-aged population.
Within these large demographic categories are some truly brilliant young thinkers—students with the potential to become the 21st century's Frank Lloyd Wright, Maya Angelou or Stephen Hawking (all first-generation college students themselves). We want them to know that Vassar is within their reach. We want them here. Period.
In this endeavor, as in any, Vassar should strive to be the best—the unapologetic, unequivocal, unabashed best. Any student who is smart enough to be admitted to Vassar should be floored by the generosity of our aid package. We should make them offers they can't refuse.
As current students, we know that a Vassar education means much more than four years of Moodle readings and Mug nights. It means more than access to professors and facilities. It means access to an expectation of achievement—an expectation that you should become more than you were for having been here.
A Vassar education means access to an alumnae/i network 36,000 strong. 36,000 who like you before even having met you. 36,000 people to advise you, to hire you and to nudge you towards personal success, in whatever form that may take. New students are lifted into a community larger than themselves. In a very real way, Vassar changes lives.
Making this vision of access into a reality, however, is no easy feat for any school; if only it were as simple as Matthew Vassar made it sound in his will nearly 150 years ago. Today, although Vassar meets 100 percent of the demonstrated need of students for all four years, and although we admit applicants without regard to their ability to pay, these commitments to aid come with significant costs. This year, Vassar will spend about $44 million on financial aid, and next year, the College is increasing its allocation to an unprecedented $51 million.
Certainly, the College looks to the generosity of its alumnae/i and friends. Indeed, the contributions of graduates and parents make our educational experience possible.
But that's not enough. We, too, have the opportunity and obligation to give back to our College. If we truly value financial aid, we need to show it. This is why every student should make a gift to the 2010 Endowed Scholarship Fund—a truly student-driven initiative to support accessibility to Vassar.
It seems odd for a bunch of 18 to 22 year-olds to practice "philanthropy." That's a word we associate with distinguished alumnae/i, celebrities or 19th century robber barons. Philanthropy, however, is the surest way to guide the mission of a place like Vassar. We as Brewers—as the guardians of this College. The direction of our philanthropy influences the direction of the institution. Giving shows where our priorities lie. We can practice this time-honored tradition of giving back to further centralize the financial aid policies that have become so central to our identity as a community.
With such an enormous financial aid budget, however, how could a student's relatively small gift make a difference? How could $5 or $10 or $20 even make a dent?
Do not underestimate the effect of your support. Your gift will make a difference for two reasons.
First, because we are beginning an endowed fund, your contribution will continue to appreciate indefinitely overtime. Our collective gift will be invested with Vassar's broader endowment and will grow in perpetuity. The revenue from the fund will provide increasing support to the overall financial aid budget. Historical data suggests that our endowment grows at a long-term average annual return rate of about nine percent. In a very real way, then, your "small" gift will actually become quite sizeable over time and make a significant impact.
Second, your gift sends a message. It illustrates that you believe in educational access, social mobility and the transformative power of a Vassar education. Your participation in this historic effort sends a powerful message about our values as a community.
Make a difference in the lives of countless future students. Make your gift online at development.vassar.edu/seniorgift.
—Ruby Cramer '12 is the incoming VSA Vice President for Operations and was Editor in Chief of the 143rd volume of The Miscellany News. Brian Farkas '10 is the outgoing VSA Vice President for Operations and was Editor in Chief of the 142nd volume.
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