Below is an update on commitments received for each component of the overall $300 million goal:
Recent Gifts
Nicholas Family Scholarship
The Nicholas family of Boston, MA, has pledged $10 million to establish the Nicholas Family Scholarship in support of need-based undergraduate scholarships in Arts & Sciences. This commitment comes from Pete T'64 and Ginny W'64 Nicholas and their children and grandchildren: J.K. Nicholas T'89, Virginia Shannon T'88, and their three children; Peter Nicholas Jr. T'92, Christina Nicholas, and their daughter; and Kate Nicholas T'94 and her son.
Members of the Nicholas family have held a wide range of leadership volunteer roles at Duke. Pete Nicholas is a trustee emeritus, and he and Ginny served as co-chairs of the 1996-2003 Campaign for Duke. During the campaign, the Nicholases made naming gifts to the Nicholas School of the Environment and the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and provided significant support for a faculty endowment fund-raising challenge.
McClendon Work-Study Scholarship
Aubrey K. McClendon T'81 and Kathleen Byrns McClendon T'80 of Oklahoma City, OK, have been strong Duke supporters since the day they arrived on campus three decades ago. Their philanthropic gifts over the years have been critical to meeting all kinds of needs on campus, from residential life to the Duke Chapel, from athletics to the Annual Fund.
So it makes sense that Duke's Financial Aid Initiative should be the beneficiary of their latest commitment: a $5 million pledge to create the McClendon Work-Study Scholarship Fund. The McClendons established this fund to provide grant support to undergraduates who are also helping to meet the cost of their education by working during their student years, a critical part of nearly all need-based financial aid at Duke.
John Emerson of Graham, NC, pledged $100,000 to establish the W. John and Nancy W. Emerson Nursing Scholarship to honor the memory of longtime Cancer Center development officer Nancy Emerson. This gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund.
David Kapnick T'76 of San Francisco, CA, and the Kapnick Foundation pledged $300,000 to establish the Kapnick Family Scholarship to support need-based aid for undergraduates studying public policy. This gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund.
