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Eighteen endowed scholarships and seven endowed high-impact experience funds received donations through the initiative.

In the last quarter of 2021, alumni, parents, and friends of Southwestern committed over $1.1 million to endowed scholarships and endowed high-impact experience funds in response to an anonymous donor’s Endowment Matching Initiative.

This initiative was announced in October 2021 as part of a $1 million commitment from an anonymous donor. Twenty-five donors committed over $40,000 each to the university, which qualified for a $20,000 matching donation to increase each donor’s commitment. Combined with the $500,000 Endowment Matching funds, over $1.6 million will be added to Southwestern’s endowment.

Eighteen endowed scholarships and seven endowed high-impact experience funds received donations through the initiative. High-impact experiences include study abroad, funded internships, community-engaged learning opportunities and student-faculty collaborative research opportunities.

Sue Stauffer Harshman, ‘73, added to her existing endowment, the Sue Stauffer Harshman Endowment Internship Fund. Her endowment provides funding for students who take unpaid internships with nonprofits.

Harshman is now retired, but when she worked at Bank of America, she oversaw interns and could tell what an advantage it was for them to learn about a business. When she heard that she could add to her high impact experience endowment with the matching gift, she leapt at the opportunity.

“To me, it was a no-brainer—particularly the size of the match,” Harshman said. “It was like money from heaven, so I did it.”

Kelley Clark, ‘82, a retired pilot, received a match for his donation to the Earl Lee Moseley Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund, which is awarded to juniors and seniors from underrepresented groups who are involved in civic engagement and student leadership.

Moseley, ‘84, was the first African-American member of Southwestern’s chapter of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. Clark was a few years older than Moseley and had also been a Pi Kappa Alpha.

“He was an amazing individual,” said Clark, referring to Moseley. “I’ve been honored to contribute for a while now.”

For Clark, who benefited from financial aid during his last year at the university, it’s important to give back.

“The experience at Southwestern was so unique,” Clark said. “It was just a wonderful experience… So I think it’s good to make this available to other people as well.”

Endowed funds are vital to Southwestern University. Southwestern has over 400 endowed funds, contributed by alumni, parents and friends of the institution. The majority of these support student scholarships, high-impact experiences, the faculty and the institution as a whole. These funds allow students to access the top-tier learning environment at SU and have a fulfilling Southwestern Experience.