Students who may be impacted by a significant life event, such as the death of a parent or guardian or a family’s loss of income or any number of situations, soon will have assistance available to help them.
With the help of a $300,000 grant from The Daniel-Mickel Foundation, the college now offers scholarships to help students stay in college and recover from tragedy. The grant is paired with a $50,000 matching grant from the college’s Trustee Matching Fund. The new fund, called OneWofford, is available to receive additional annual contributions of any size from others committed to assisting students through extreme circumstances; it will be activated in January 2018.
“This newly endowed fund will help ensure success for all Wofford students and demonstrates the care and support of the Wofford family and friends for our students,” President Nayef Samhat says. “We are so grateful to The Daniel-Mickel Foundation for this partnership.”
“The Daniel-Mickel Foundation is very pleased to support Wofford and its students,” says Charles Mickel, trustee of the foundation. “Financial concerns for students will always be present in college. We hope we can help keep some students from falling through the cracks and dropping out when unforeseen financial difficulties arise. ... We also hope the recipients of these funds will become strong alumni of Wofford and will pay forward this gift with their own generosity.”
Wofford will use software it already has acquired in its proactive approach toward academic success that links students to campus resources and notifies students, advisors and other faculty and staff members of important events relating to a student’s success. Through the software, called Starfish, students can alert faculty and staff if they have family issues and need help because of them.
by Laura Hendrix Corbin