By Emily Glory Peters
Since its inception, Scripps College’s mission has always involved helping students meet the challenges of their times. The Scripps Fund, which supports the College’s essential operations, shares a similar purpose: to meet Scripps’ greatest needs.
Still, not all donors are aware of how far their gifts go. For example, shares Director of The Scripps Fund Perry Radford, the general public may not know that tuition doesn’t cover the full operating expenses of the College. “A private institution like Scripps needs something like The Scripps Fund to help fill this gap by offsetting operational costs, opening doors to new opportunities for students and faculty, and helping us prepare for unexpected emergencies,” she says. “If you picture what it takes to run a college—from academic programs to campus enhancements—that’s what your gift to The Scripps Fund supports.”
What Else Does The Scripps Fund Do? You Get to Choose
While the flexibility of general or “unrestricted” gifts is crucial to keeping Scripps’ signature programs intact and thriving, we recognize that donors often want to personalize their gifts. To help, designations within The Scripps Fund were created to address the College’s highest needs as well as our community’s passion projects. To demonstrate the far-reaching impact of gifts to these different areas, the College shares giving stories online throughout the year.
Now a graduate student pursuing a career in medicine, Suzette Guzman ’18’s life was changed for the better because of the scholarship support she received from those who gave to The Scripps Fund.
Take Suzette Guzman ’18. Scientist, dancer, and first-generation college student, Guzman’s Scripps education was made possible by scholarships, one of The Scripps Fund’s most popular giving areas. Initially struggling in science, Guzman says that Scripps taught her to “know when to ask for help,” a practice that propelled her to the top of her class. Now a neuroscience graduate student at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Guzman is showing other students a future like hers “is not impossible,” especially with access to scholarships. “It means so much to me and to my family that I get to achieve a higher education,” she says about those who helped fund her time at Scripps. “I wouldn’t be here today without [their] help.”And just this November, support of the sustainability giving area at Scripps helped revive a College tradition of harvesting olives on campus, ultimately serving as a creative sustainability funding source through the sale of olive oil. It’s just one example, notes Scripps Director of Facilities Operations and Sustainability Lesley Swick, of how donors shape the Scripps of today as well as tomorrow. “Gifts to sustainability ensure that we can continue to set the standard for sustainable thinking and design for our community and remain good stewards of the environment,” she says. “They help us implement change at Scripps that is long-lasting.”
The Scripps Fund: Why Your Support Matters
As Scripps pursues new avenues of excellence, gifts to The Scripps Fund matter because they make up the framework of Scripps’ unique culture of giving. It’s a culture largely defined by our network of alums who live out the College’s missional characteristics of leadership, service, integrity, and creativity every day. Yet the intimate size of the College means a smaller pool of alumnae, making collective support that much more essential—something our alums excel at thanks to their shared sense of ownership for what happens on campus.
This ongoing connection to the College manifests in various ways, from volunteering to attending a campus event to making transformative gifts. But support doesn’t always need to come in the form of major donations, nor is it the sole responsibility of alumnae. The Scripps Fund’s annual Day of Giving, is the perfect example of families, faculty, staff, and community members joining together with alumnae to support the College’s mission by making gifts of all sizes. These gifts not only transform the academic experience for students, Radford explains, they impact the College’s rankings and elevate the value of a Scripps education—something all Scripps supporters can take pride in.
“When you give to The Scripps Fund, it’s a value statement. You’re saying, ‘I value what Scripps does and understand that it’s only able to exist because we’re supporting it as a community,’” she says. Above all, gifts to The Scripps Fund matter because they represent people who believe we’re stronger together than we are apart—and who invest in that community.
“There are so many ways to be connected and feel gratitude for Scripps, whether you’re an alum, a parent, or someone who simply wants others to have access to this kind of educational experience,” Radford shares. “Scripps leaves a mark on people for the better. That’s why everyone giving together is so powerful.”
Supporting The Scripps Fund means you not only help directly meet the College’s greatest needs, but you shape its future for the better. Close out 2019 on a high note by making a year-end gift of any size to The Scripps Fund today or reach out to Perry Radford, director of The Scripps Fund at pradford@scrippscollege.edu | (909) 621-8160 to learn more.
Interested in learning more? Check out our latest giving and impact news here.