An inspirational challenge Making college affordable is a perennial focus for Nichols. “We know that when students do not choose us or decide to leave, the primary reason is financial,” says Nichols President Susan West Engelkemeyer, PhD. “We want to eliminate that barrier for our students.” Currently 98 percent of full-time Nichols students receive some kind of financial assistance.
CAMPAIGN DONOR SPOTLIGHT
Building Pride Alvah Rock ’63 has a long history with Nichols – from the time, he points out, when the school was all male during his undergraduate years and a number of students, including him, got married before graduating. “Considering the size of the school, a pretty large number of us were married by senior year,” Rock says. “There was a lot of camaraderie among us.” (He adds that he’s still married to the same bride, more than 50 years later.) For the last five years, Rock has served on the Nichols Board of Advisors, a position that prompted him to give to the Bicentennial Campaign. “I decided that because I was involved it was time to pony up some extra money,” he says. Rock’s donation – made in the spring of 2015 as construction was going full tilt – went towards the completion of the college’s new academic building.The
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structure, which houses hightech classrooms, student services, and faculty offices, opened last fall, with Rock attending the September ribbon cutting ceremony. Along with the three-yearold Fels Student Center, the academic building has made the drive along Center Road all the more scenic, an improvement that Rock appreciates, along with the other buildings that Nichols has added. “All of a sudden you go back and see what happened,” he says. “You see all the dorms and athletic fields, that they’ve built.” Rock has a special eye for that construction, having spent much of his career as the director of facilities and services at publisher McGraw Hill. As for the new building he helped fund with a gift, he says, “I see progress. It’s something that was definitely needed.”
Nichols College M A G A Z I N E | S p r i n g 2 0 1 6
– Ron Schachter
“. . . This is a very direct way of securing a legacy of leaders, and we are grateful for John’s inspiration.” – Bill Pieczynski
In the past five years, Nichols has added 12 new endowed scholarships for a total of 31. The goal for the Bicentennial Campaign is to increase that number to at least 45. And John Davis ’72, chairman of the Board of Trustees and co-chair of the campaign, is challenging donors to make that happen. In addition to a $5 million commitment Davis has already made to the campaign, he has recently committed $1 million to
scholarships, a portion of which will be used to inspire others to have a direct and lasting impact. Here’s how it works. A commitment of at least $25,000 is needed to endow a scholarship. This can be paid all at once or over a maximum period of five years. Either way, the fund will not generate enough income to award a scholarship until about a year after the $25,000 is paid in full, so, in some cases, five years. Davis is challenging donors to commit to endowing a scholarship for at least $25,000 before the close of the campaign in June 2017. He will then donate $2,000 a year to be distributed to a deserving student in the donor’s name right away for a maximum of five years, or until the commitment is paid in full. “This is a unique and generous proposition,” says Bill Pieczynski, vice president of advancement. “John is giving donors the opportunity to have an immediate impact while they maintain a payment schedule that is comfortable for them. It allows their own scholarship fund to continue to grow and generate enough income to stand on its own. This is a very direct way of securing a legacy of leaders, and we are grateful for John’s inspiration.”