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Odyssey Scholarships and $100 million
By Mark | May 30, 2007
The U of C just got a hundred million dollars for financial aid. Wow.
To: Alumni and Friends
From: Robert J. Zimmer, President
Re: Gift Announcement
Date: May 30, 2007It is with great pleasure that I announce a $100 million gift to the University of Chicago in support of a new financial aid program for undergraduates. This remarkable gift, from an alumnus of the College who wishes to remain anonymous, will be the cornerstone of a $400 million undergraduate student aid initiative that will transform our ability to attract and support students from lower and middle income groups. It is the largest gift in the history of the University.
Beginning in the Fall of 2008, incoming students as well as returning students will be eligible for these enhanced aid packages, named Odyssey Scholarships, which will eliminate student loans entirely among students with demonstrated financial need whose annual family income is less than $60,000 and will eliminate half the student loan packages among students with demonstrated financial need whose annual family income is between $60,000 and $75,000. We expect 1,200 students to benefit from the program at a time—nearly 25 percent of the entire College population. As part of the program, approximately 50 students most likely to benefit from a summer enrichment program to prepare them for their College experience will be invited to campus the summer before their first year to spend eight weeks working with faculty. Those students will also be relieved of work-study during their first year in the College, enhancing their ability to engage fully in the rich intellectual life of the University.
As we celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the Core Curriculum, this gift ensures that the most talented students, no matter their economic circumstances, will have the opportunity to benefit from the uniquely powerful and rigorous Chicago education. Providing access to the College for these students comports with our highest values, is central to our mission, and has the potential to greatly enrich the life opportunities for these students and their families for generations to come.
The alumnus responsible for this gift, who graduated in the 1980s, reflected on the enduring influence of his Chicago education when making this great act of philanthropy: “Although I fell far from the academic vine, my education in the College convinced me (in a way that no event or person has yet to undermine) that I was in fact, as Hanna H. Gray declared at my graduation, somehow a worthy citizen of an ancient and honorable community of scholars. The self-esteem that comes from a sense of citizenship in that tradition, however upon reflection marred it may be, has been the simple fixed point of the Archimedean comedy of my personal and professional successes. I make this gift to the University of Chicago because I believe it has had a profound effect on my life. I give this gift in the hopes that future generations of students will not be prevented from attending the College because of financial incapacity and may graduate without the siren of debt distracting them from taking risks and fulfilling dreams.”
This act of generosity is also designed to be an act of inspiration, or, as the donor describes it, “a challenge to others who, by fate’s hand, can allow the program my gift initiates to form the endowment necessary for its certain perpetuation.” A portion of his gift will be in matching funds for donors who contribute to a planned $150 million endowment to support the Odyssey Scholarship program as part of a larger effort to raise $400 million in new funds for College financial aid. Trustees Emily Nicklin ’75 J.D. ’77 and Gregory Wendt ’83 have agreed to lead this campaign for College financial aid.
This extraordinary gift elevates our financial aid program to be among the most generous in the nation. And the effort we will undertake to raise additional funds will ensure that Chicago will remain open to those students most able to benefit from and contribute to the University, regardless of financial means. I am deeply grateful to our donor, who told us that his goal “is to make affordable the extraordinary education the College offers to those who would otherwise be unable to afford it.” We share that vision and commit to realizing it.
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May 31st, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Huh. Anonymous, impressive. Let the guessing begin. Wikipedia provides a good start if you look at people in business (assuming that is the way you come up with $100M), undergrad degrees in the 1980s…
Andrew M. Alper (A.B. 1980, M.B.A., 1981) - President of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, youngest Goldman Sachs partner in company history, trustee of the University of Chicago.
John P. Amboian (A.B. 1983, M.B.A., 1984) - President of Nuveen Investments.
Brady Dougan (A.B. 1981, M.B.A., 1982) - CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston; CEO-elect of Credit Suisse Group in Zurich (beginning May 2007); youngest CEO on Wall Street (2004).
Nassef Sawiris (A.B. 1982) - CEO of Orascom Construction Industries (OCI).