The Scholarship Recognition Dinner brings together students with the donors who help make their Lafayette education possible.
Scholarships helped Barbara Levy ’77 receive a college education. In turn, she established a scholarship to help others with great ability, but limited financial resources, realize their potential at Lafayette.
“I derive a great sense of pride knowing that in some way I helped enable a student to pursue their education and facilitate their achievement,” says Levy, a Lafayette trustee. “I have found the students who receive these scholarships are among the brightest and most motivated – in-and-out of the classroom.”
Levy was among the donors who spent time with student recipients and one another during the biennial Scholarship Recognition Dinner at Marquis Hall Friday evening.
Featured speakers were Tony Fernandez ʼ81, who has established the A and S Fernandez Family Scholarship Fund, and Johnny Gossick ʼ18, recipient of the James L. Dyson ’33 Marquis Scholarship Endowment, the Clinton C. Hemmings ’52 Memorial Scholarship, and the Creative and Performing Arts Fellowship. Fernandez is executive vice president and chief supply chain officer of Pinnacle Foods, Inc. Gossick is a neuroscience major from Forest Hill, Md.
Other speakers included President Alison Byerly; Board of Trustees Chairman Ed Ahart ’69; College Chaplain Alex Hendrickson; and Ashley Bianchi, director of financial aid.
Each year, more than $7 million is generated by over 550 named scholarships that are part of Lafayette’s permanent endowment or are funded through restricted annual gifts. This includes more than 100 scholarships added through the Live Connected, Lead Change campaign, which has raised $41 million for financial aid.
Sally Elbert Kalin ’87 Memorial Fund for Study Abroad
Ed Elbert ’55 with Casey White ’17
“I have been a long-time contributor to Lafayette's Annual Fund – and annually visit my brick in the Fleck Society Walkway – with portions going to Lafayette swimming and engineering,” says Elbert. “When Sally passed away in 2010, my wife and I decided that a memorial fund at the College would be the best way to remember her. Lafayette is a place where Sally came into her own, learned, matured, made countless friends, and graduated as the type of person you always hope your children will become. Sally spent the summer of 1986 in France and found the experience most rewarding. While we as a family had travelled often, Sally was on her own this time and able to see and learn about other people and cultures without having mom and dad pointing the way. It was a wonderful time for her and she often mentioned how good it would be if every student could do the same.”
Weisburger Family Scholarship
Michael Weisburger ’82 with Joseph Towers ’18
“The Weisburgers like to remain connected. That's just how we live our lives,” says Weisburger. “If even for just a few hours on campus visiting with a scholarship recipient, we are reminded of our four years on campus and how special our time at Lafayette was. It's extremely rewarding to see just how hard the school is working to keep up with changing times in the world of academia. These scholarships truly create opportunities for our students to thrive inside-and-outside the Lafayette community. What better way to stay connected and help terrific young people from all different backgrounds reach their lifetime goals?”
Richard D. Paynton '52 Scholarship Fund
John Meier ’74, Patricia Paynton Meier, and Richard Paynton Jr. '86 with Christopher Hoeflinger ’17
“I come from a family where neither of my parents went to a four-year college, and it was assumed that I would eventually attend one,” says Hoeflinger. “They sacrificed many things to make sure my brother and I have opportunities that they didn't. With the help of a donor like the Paynton family, I can make a better future for myself and use what I've learned in college to make an impact on the world through engineering. The scholarship has allowed me to follow my dreams of studying electrical engineering when I would not have had the financial ability to otherwise. I feel that the donors are very generous alumni and I hope that I can be one to give a student the same privilege to study at Lafayette that I have now.”
Macri Family Scholarship Fund
Robert Macri ’78 and Stephen Macri ’82 with Sedomo Agosa ’18
“About 15 years ago, Rob and I first discussed with Joe Samaritano [’91] the possibility of giving our annual donations in a directed manner,” says Stephen Macri. “In a nutshell, Joe initially suggested my involvement in a Posse Scholarship initiative when my class was celebrating its 20th reunion. After two years of support, I discovered that Posse at that time excluded students, such as Sedomo, who attended faith-based secondary schools. Then as now, my motivation for the Macri Family Scholarship was to assist students from working class backgrounds – especially the recent immigrants served by the Catholic secondary schools in the inner cities proximate to Lafayette – to gain the gift of a Lafayette education. A dozen years later, it is especially gratifying that the Posse Foundation no longer excludes such candidates and that Sedomo is the beneficiary of both scholarships. I know that Rob shares my great pride that Sedomo, a brother alumnus of Msgr. Farrell High School, also shares many of the same Staten Island experiences that preceded our years at Lafayette.”
A and S Fernandez Family Scholarship Fund
Tony Fernandez ’81 with Andrew Ortiz ’18
“My wife Sue [’83], whom I met at Lafayette, and I felt that Lafayette provided us with an outstanding education, with the flexibility to develop a curriculum that best met our interests,” says Tony Fernandez. “It gave us the opportunity to be involved with many different organizations, both on-and-off campus, which enabled us to become more well-rounded individuals. As importantly, we made friends and developed lifelong relationships. Given our experiences at Lafayette and how much these shaped our lives, we were very thankful and always felt it important that we support the college after we graduated. We wanted to help make the Lafayette experience available to students who otherwise would not be able to afford it. We also wanted to support the diversity goals of the College and focused our scholarship fund to help support minority students interested in pursuing an engineering or science degree.”
Strouse Family Scholarship Fund
Robert ’70 and Norma Strouse with Craig Lombardo ’17
“My experiences at Lafayette laid the foundation for my future career success,” says Robert Strouse. “Funding scholarships enables me to assist others in having the same experiences and opportunities that I had at the College. It allows qualified students who might not otherwise be able to afford a Lafayette education to attend the school, benefitting both the student and the College.”
