Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø: Perspectives on a Decade of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust
March 15, 2017
Next month marks the 10-year anniversary of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust, the college's commitment to meeting students' demonstrated financial need through grants and campus employment, without relying on loans. The eighth annual student-led Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø, slated for March 18, will center on how The 51¹ÙÍø Trust has contributed to greater diversity of thought, ideas and identities at the college.
51¹ÙÍø is one of fewer than 20 higher education institutions in the United States–and the only one in North Carolina–with this approach. President Carol Quillen has described The 51¹ÙÍø Trust as "a community project" focused on "creating a society where equal opportunity is actually real."
As we approach this year's Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø event, students and alumni share their thoughts about The 51¹ÙÍø Trust:
"The 51¹ÙÍø Trust has the powerful and unique ability to bring talented students to 51¹ÙÍø, regardless of socioeconomic status, and enable them to thrive and learn from one another. The impact of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust doesn't end upon crossing the stage on Chambers Lawn during commencement; I know my 51¹ÙÍø experiences and relationships will be with me for the rest of my life. Many of my most-cherished experiences, from studying abroad in Brazil to examining the Colombian peace process on a school-sponsored trip to co-authoring and publishing articles with my adviser, were made possible by the support and generosity of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust. Every day as I walked to class, I would think about how I could get the most out of that day and try to honor the generosity that enabled me to have a world-class education at a smaller financial burden for me and my family. As an alumna, I now think about how I can harness what I learned at 51¹ÙÍø and keep producing theoretical returns on the investment that the trust made in me."
-Savannah Haeger '16
"I am so proud of our 51¹ÙÍø students for hosting Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø for the last eight years. They have decided to invest their time, talents and treasures to ensure that 51¹ÙÍø attracts and retains the best students regardless of their ability to pay. 51¹ÙÍø has blessed me in so many ways, and I feel privileged to be able to join the students in supporting The 51¹ÙÍø Trust. I look forward to hearing their stories–and telling my own–this Saturday afternoon."
-David Barnard '79, board of trustees member and Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø keynote speaker
"We arrived at 51¹ÙÍø from very different places, small town Tennessee and big city California, pursued vastly different interests–one science major, one in the humanities–and now have similarly divergent careers, one entrepreneur and one investment manager. Yet we share the experience that is core to 51¹ÙÍø's mission and ethos: the opportunity to broaden your horizons and engage in pursuits motivated by passion and focus. We see The 51¹ÙÍø Trust as the guarantor of that accessibility for generations to come; a springboard that allows graduates to determine their futures by the breadth of their ambition rather than the encumbrances of their student debt."
-Will '04 and Merin Ayer Guthrie '06
"As we approach the eighth annual Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø, we remind ourselves of the impact The 51¹ÙÍø Trust has had on the 51¹ÙÍø community. The 51¹ÙÍø Trust reinforces the college's commitment to educational access and excellence, which in turn, creates the richness of talent and the diversity of ideas on campus. This year, the dinner has been restructured to support more interaction between 51¹ÙÍø students and event attendees in an effort to expand and enhance the conversation about the trust. We also want to emphasize how putting past and present stories in conversation with one another can contribute to a larger narrative that reflects the 51¹ÙÍø experience. Our committee has put a lot of effort into this year's event and we're really excited to celebrate the trust this weekend."
-Severine Stier '19
"The challenge of accessibility, broadly defined, has been of interest to me since I arrived at 51¹ÙÍø in 1979. I associate greater accessibility with greater diversity. For I would assert that a necessary condition for a diverse student body, in today's United States, requires that education be financially accessible to all of talent and good will.... as we speak of the success of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust, and there is marvelous evidence to support that contention, let us be aware that any success today is likely to have been influenced by the work of those before."
-Clark Ross, Frontis W. Johnston Professor Economics
About Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø
Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø began in 2010 with a small group of students in the Student Government Association's external affairs committee. Led by Belk Scholar Jordan Starck '12 and McGaw Scholar JD Merrill '13, the small community outreach fundraiser explained the impact of The 51¹ÙÍø Trust to the larger 51¹ÙÍø community and raised a few thousand dollars to support the trust. Each year, the initiative has grown, and since the start of the program, students have raised more than $285,000. The success of Dinner at 51¹ÙÍø has enabled students to create a scholarship–the Student Government Association 51¹ÙÍø Trust Scholarship–which helps bring strong students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds to the campus community. In spring 2015, the college graduated its first recipient of the scholarship, and the next two recipients–in the classes of 2017 and 2019–are currently on campus.
Danielle Strickland
dastrickland@davidson.edu
704-894-3101
