Alumnae legacy fund endows first
full scholarship
JANE
LANGFORD
Staff Writer
Meredith recently
endowed Its first
full paid scholar
ship that Includes
tuKlon, room and
board, Internships
and study abroad.
North Carolina State
University has the Park
Scholarship, The
University ofNorth
Carolina at Chapel Hill has
the Morehead Scholarship,
now Meredith College has
the Alumnae Legacy
Scholarship.
The Alumnae Legacy
Scholarship is a series of
endowments combined to
create Meredith's first ever
fiill scholarship. It will
include tuition, room and
board, internships and
study abroad
In the mid-1990’s, a
group of alumnae, spear
headed by Mabel Claire
Hoggard Maddry, class of
1928, were concerned
about the direction of
Meredith's academic stan
dards. The group worked
for many years trying to
raise money for the schol
arship with little luck. The
biggest break for the schol
arship came in 1999 when
President Maureen Hartford
came to Meredith.Hartford
hired Jane Dittman to head
up the office of
Institutional Advancetnent.
"She got everyone
organized and taught us
how to fund raise," said
Claire Sullivan, class of
1972. With President
Hartford and Dittman lead
ing the chaise, the
Alumnae association began
to reallx^work for dona
tions.
"We changed the way
we fundraised. We
researched who we wanted
to go after, who could
afford it," said Sullivan.
"We visited people instead
of just calling them."
Instead of asking for
$1,000 or small contribu
tions, the minimum amount
of giving was raised to
$50,000. With twenty-one
endowments, ail valuing at
least $50,000, the fund has
quickly grown to include
gifts and pledges of over
$2.4 million. This money
will fund the fu^t four
scholarships with the first
being awarded when $2
million is in hand.
Eventually, $10 million will
come in to keep the endow
ment alive.
Two of the bigger con
tributors for the flind were
Elizabeth Tripplett-Beam,
class of 1972, and Iona
Kemp Knight, class of
1943. Tripplett-Beam gave
$100,000 and Knight left a
$1,000,000 trust from life
insurance.
The Alumnae Legacy
Scholarship will provide
Meredith with an avenue to
recruit the best and bright
est students to campus.
"Meredith loses bright
students every year because
it has been unable to offer
generous scholarships as
other institutions do," com
mented Billy Jo Kennedy
Cockman, class of 1979
and Meredith's associate
director of major gifts.
Alumnae are hoping that
the new influx of interest
from the best students will
make Meredith even more
academically competitive.
The endowment is also
meant to elevate Meredith's
prestige and profile nation
ally, also helping the aca
demic make-up of the col
lege.
Perhaps the most benefi
cial part of the great fund
raising endeavor produced
by the endowment commit
tee is that this might lead to
more giving by alumnae in
the future.
Meredith, in the past,
has had some of the lowest
alumnae giving percentages
in the country. At one
point, Meredith was receiv
ing contributions as low as
five dollars from only
twenty-two percent of
alumnae.
With a better structure in
place for fundraising and a
better idea of where the
money comes from and
what it goes to, Meredith
alums hope to produce
more scholarships and ben
efits to enhance the value
of a Meredith education.
"That's why tuition is so
high," said Sullivan
"because everything that
goes on at Meredith is basi
cally running on tuition
money. We need alumnae
to do more things like this
to help everyone out."
Meredith to host The North Carolina
Music Teachers Association
MELYSSA ALLEN
Media Relations
Office of Marketing &
Communications
Meredith College’s
Department of Music is
hosting the annual confer
ence of the North Carolina
Music Teachers
Association (NCMTA) on
October 17-19.
The purpose of the
NCMTA is the advance
ment of musical knowledge
and education through dis
cussion, investigation, per
formance, publication, and
the promotion of the gener
al welfare of music teach
ers in the state ofNorth
Carolina.
On Friday, Oct. 17 at
8:15 p.m. in Jones
Auditorium, the Guild Trio
will be performing as the
principal guest artists for
the conference.
The Guild Trio, com
posed of pianist Patricia
Tao, violinist Janet
Orenstein, and cellist
Brooks Whitehouse, is
noted for possessing the
highest standards of tech
nique, interpretation, and
collaboration. They have
an extensive resume includ
ing winning the USIA
Artistic Ambassador
Competition (1988), being
awarded the position of
trio-in-residence by the
Tanglewood Music Center
(1990), and winning the
Annual Chamber Music
Yellow Springs
Competition (1991).
The Meredith College
Music Faculty will present
a concert as part of the con
ference on Saturday, Oct.
18 at 8:15 p.m. in Carswell
Concert Hall.
Both of these events are
free and open to the public.
For more information, con
tact the Meredith College
E)epartment of Music at
(919) 760-8536.