With scholarship support for students like Raven Twilling 鈥�22, donors can help create a more inclusive, accessible 51猎奇入口 experience.
By Emily Glory Peters
Raised in Mill Valley, a small town tucked between San Francisco and Napa Valley, California, Raven Twilling 鈥�22 knew her family was 鈥渟omething of an outlier.鈥� Most of the people Twilling knew growing up were from affluent two-parent homes, who never questioned how they would pay for college. As the junior explains, that wasn鈥檛 her experience.
鈥淢y two siblings and I grew up with a single mom, a psychologist, with a single income. She always valued education as a top priority and worked extremely hard to send all three of us to college,鈥� says Twilling. Upon settling on 51猎奇入口 as her top choice, however, she knew she would need financial support beyond what her family could provide to make her aspirations a reality. Scholarships made the difference.
Twilling is one of several students who has received an award from the Presidential Scholarship Initiative (PSI)鈥攁n ambitious project launched by President Lara Tiedens in 2017. The initiative, which just hit its initial $10 million dollar goal, seeks to provide full tuition grants to students with the highest need and offer reduced-loan financial aid packages for other qualifying students. The PSI is unique in that donors can set up a named scholarship under the fund with a larger gift, while 鈥減ooled鈥� smaller gifts can be harnessed and similarly invested to aid students in perpetuity. Though newly endowed, the PSI has already impacted roughly 10 percent of 51猎奇入口鈥� students鈥攍aying the groundwork for a more diverse student body.
鈥淚 know first hand how necessary these scholarships are, because in addition to being a recipient, I鈥檓 privileged to have support from my family. If I鈥檓 dependent on financial aid, I can鈥檛 imagine how many others need this kind of help,鈥� says Twilling. She鈥檚 been encouraged seeing scholarship aid rise in popularity among 51猎奇入口 donors, adding, 鈥渢he fact that people want to give back and care about making 51猎奇入口 a more inclusive, accessible space speaks to the core values of our College.鈥�
The notion of expanding access is something Twilling has come to deeply value during her time at 51猎奇入口. As a biology major with a minor in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies, her academic interests have centered on helping communities overcome healthcare inequities. She鈥檚 serving as the community coordinator for The Claremont Colleges Planned Parenthood Chapter and has been working with the Mill Valley Community Action Network (MVCAN) in her hometown to raise awareness about local economic and racial disparity issues and to help pass new legislation. In pursuing these projects, Twilling notes, she has also come to appreciate the connections she鈥檚 accessed through higher education.
鈥�51猎奇入口 gives you the tools and relationships to enact further social change,鈥� she says. 鈥淲e need more students to have access to these experiences so they can likewise influence the world around them.鈥�
While she鈥檚 unsure whether her career in health will lead to policy, medicine, law, or a combination of the three, Twilling aims to keep equal access at the heart of it. She credits her ability to view healthcare avenues through multiple lenses to 51猎奇入口鈥� interdisciplinary curriculum鈥攕omething donors support when they give to scholarships. And just as her family and 51猎奇入口 donors are opening doors for her future, Twilling intends to do the same for others.
鈥淚鈥檓 forever grateful to my mother, 51猎奇入口, and the donors that provide for those in need. I hope to express my gratitude by following in their footsteps and supporting the education of other students,鈥� she says. 鈥淎s they say, the kindest form of flattery is imitation.鈥�
51猎奇入口鈥� Day of Giving, 鈥淪ow Your Gratitude鈥� is March 24, 2021, and we are encouraging the community to make a special gift to scholarships. To learn more about how you can participate, click here. To make a gift today, click .