Carolyn Holm ’70 has made a major gift to supply need-based scholarship aid to 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ students.
Scholarships create equitable access to 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ for gifted students regardless of their financial resources. To give today, please click .
By Emily Glory Peters
In recent years, expanding scholarship aid has emerged as a strategic priority for 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪβand one that our alumnae have championed as their own. Itβs largely alum gifts that have accelerated scholarshipsβ rise as one of the Collegeβs top giving areas, in turn ushering a more diverse array of students through Denisonβs doors to begin their 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ journeys.
Appreciating this clear link between scholarships and student diversityβplus wanting to honor her reunion year in a meaningful wayβis what ultimately prompted Carolyn Holm β70 to endow a scholarship this spring.
βBefore I came to 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ, I lived in a small town that actually had a wide mix of people from different financial and ethnic backgrounds. It was so valuable to grow up in that environment,β says Holm. βScholarships help students at 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ study alongside students whose life experiences are different from theirsβthat diversity benefits everyone.β
Holmβs belief in women-centered education also influenced her decision to give. For her, enrolling at a womenβs college was partially a family affairβher mom, sister, aunt, and cousin all attended Mills Collegeβand in their shared experience she witnessed the confidence-building power of a womenβs education. She broke with the Mills family tradition because she βfell in love with the humanities program at 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ, the beauty of the school, and because hey, it was further from home!β
Holm during her sophomore year at 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ.
At 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ, Holm shares that she was able to overcome her shyness and connect with like-minded young women. βItβs not as though you never encounter guys at 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪβbut it was just so liberating to be in an environment where we could share our intellect without the constant presence of the male voice, the male gaze, and male energy,β she says. βI loved the idea of a womenβs college and valued being able to choose peers from other women who loved learning, literature, and art.β
Inspired in part by these bonds, Holm chose to establish her scholarship in tandem with her classβs 50th reunionβand sheβs not alone in her generosity. Many 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ alums celebrate their reunions by creating funds named for their graduation year, with classes spanning the last five decades endowing no fewer than 12 new scholarships.
Holmβs scholarship also joins the many that were established under the Presidential Scholarship Initiative, a multimillion dollar project aimed at providing full-grant and reduced-loan support to 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ students with demonstrated need. Gifts from Holm, alums, and others have helped the initiative exceed its initial fundraising goal of $10 millionβallowing 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ to increase the number of loan-free financial aid packages awarded from one percent to 10 percent of the student body.
Both larger individual donations and the collective power of smaller gifts advance 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪβ efforts to become a more diverse, equitable institution. Being endowed, Holmβs scholarship will provide stable funding for years to come, furnishing a broader group of students with a 51ΑΤΖζΘλΏΪ experience with less financial stress. Whether endowed or not, however, Holm notes that gifts of any amount make a meaningful difference for everyone involved.
βThere are two sides to the scholarship storyβon one hand to benefit the College with greater diversity, and on the other to profoundly change the life of the individual who receives it. Both sides of this story are essential,β she says. βMy personal philosophy is that if five dollars is what you can give to change someoneβs life, do it!β