Affording Opportunity
Cory Massaro T'10 could see himself at Duke.
Read more. (pdf)
Ann Pelham T'74 is proud to support a Duke scholarship.
Read more. (pdf)
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Support a Scholarship with a Charitable IRA Rollover
Recent legislation renews a temporary provision that allows donors age 70 1/2 or older to make a direct, tax-free rollover of up to $100,000 from a traditional or Roth IRA to a qualified charitable organization such as Duke University—but only in 2008 or 2009. A direct rollover will be much better for most donors than a taxable IRA withdrawal followed by a charitable gift.
Of course, only donors who are sure they will not need these assets at a later date should consider a charitable IRA rollover. Donors of any age can still make a deferred gift of an IRA or other retirement account by naming Duke University as a beneficiary of the account at their death.
To learn more about charitable IRA rollovers, or to request sample language directing a charitable distribution from an IRA, please contact a member of the Duke's Gift Planning staff.
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Recent Gifts
Duke parents Jeff T'76 and Carson T'76 Howard of Lewisville, NC, who established the Jeffrey C. and Carson Dowd Howard Family Scholarship in 2003, made an additional pledge of $100,000 to this undergraduate scholarship in honor of President Richard and Cynthia Brodhead. Their gift is being matched dollar for dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund.
Duke trustee Frank Edward Emory Jr. T ’79 of Charlotte, NC, has pledged $100,000 to establish the Emory Family Scholarship Endowment Fund to provide need-based aid for Arts & Sciences students. This gift is being matched dollar for dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund.
Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice PLLC, which has its home office in Winston-Salem NC, has contributed $100,000 to establish a scholarship for the benefit of Duke Law students. Womble Carlyle has one of the highest concentrations of Duke Law graduates at any law firm in the country. Many of the senior partners have lent their expertise to Duke Law School as board members, adjunct professors, and volunteers.
Duke parents Steven M. Scott H'78 and Rebecca Jensen Scott A'79 of Boca Raton, FL, have pledged $1,000,000 to establish a need-based undergraduate scholarship. This gift is being matched dollar for dollar by the Financial Aid Initiative Challenge Fund. |
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This month Duke held its annual celebration of scholarships and fellowships. If you weren't at the dinner, we urge you to listen to the student speaker and to our president's remarks as well. Their words do much to illustrate the importance of Duke's Financial Aid Initiative.
Some areas have exceeded their goals, bringing us close to our overall goal, but we are still $12 million away from our $230 million goal for need-based undergraduate scholarships. That is Duke's greatest area of need, and we must make sure that it is met when the initiative ends on December 31.
Endowment gifts help Duke enroll students from all financial circumstances and support the needs of those students in good economic times and bad. Thank you all for supporting financial aid at Duke, and thanks to those of you who are considering a gift in these final months.
| Sally Dalton Robinson W’55 |
G. Richard Wagoner, Jr. T’75 |
| Co-Chairs, Duke’s Financial Aid Initiative |
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Duke still needs to raise about $12 million for undergraduate need-based aid, and matching funds are available to match gifts of $100,000+ on a dollar for dollar basis.
For questions about the initiative, contact Susan Ross at (919) 681-0465 or susan.ross@dev.duke.edu.
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School-by-School Update
Below is an update on fund-raising progress for each component of the overall $300 million goal:
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Goal |
Commitments to Date |
| Undergraduate Need-Based Aid |
$230 |
$204.6 |
| Unclaimed Challenge Funds for Undergraduate Need-Based Aid |
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$13.2 |
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| Athletic Scholarships |
$15 |
$19.0 |
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| Graduate and Professional Students |
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| Divinity School |
$10 |
$10.4 |
| Fuqua School of Business |
$4 |
$6.6 |
| Graduate School |
$10 |
$9.6 |
| Nicholas School of the Environment |
$5 |
$5.0 |
| School of Law |
$10 |
$10.1 |
| School of Medicine |
$12 |
$13.0 |
| School of Nursing |
$4 |
$4.2 |
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| Unclaimed Challenge Funds for Graduate and Professional Student Aid |
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$1.0 |
| |
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| Total (as of 10/3/08) |
$300 |
$297 |
| in millions |
Celebrating Scholarships and Fellowships at Duke
Each year, Duke holds a special event to recognize and celebrate scholarship and fellowship donors, honorees, and student recipients. This is the third year that the student speaker was selected through a competitive process. The Student Advisory Council for Duke's Financial Aid Initiative invited sophomore, junior, and senior financial aid recipients to enter the competition. Staff members working on the Financial Aid Initiative and a representative from the Student Advisory Council reviewed applications and selected the winner.
Congratulations to this year's winner and to the four other finalists:
Kateri Zhu T'10
Moraga, CA |
Sarah King T'11
Coral Springs, FL |
Simon Leefatt T'09
West Palm Beach, FL |
Valerie Tornini T'10
Port Chester, NY |
Ibtehaj Naqvi T'10
Houston, TX |
[My college counselor] went down my list, and when she got to Duke, looked up at me and said, "Duke is a really good school, Kateri. Somehow every Dukie that I have ever met seems to bleed Duke blue." I didn't quite understand what she meant at the time, and I wouldn't have been able to guess that I would be presented with the opportunity to find out.
Kateri Zhu
Read excerpts from the finalist's speeches.
A gift to Duke's Financial Aid Initiative can provide a life income
for you and your loved ones.
Many donors choose to create scholarships and fellowships through deferred gifts that yield a life income now and provide support for financial aid in the future. A charitable gift annuity, for instance, provides you and/or your loved ones with a fixed income for life. Your ages, your financial needs, and current interest rates determine the annuity rate Duke can offer.
Some annuity rates:
| Your age(s) |
Annuity |
| 60 |
5.5% |
| 70 |
6.1% |
| 80 |
7.6% |
| 70/68 |
5.6% |
| 76/73 |
5.9% |
Annuity rates are subject to change. Once your gift is made, the annuity rate remains fixed.
Duke also offers life income gifts that provide an income stream which fluctuates with the market. Learn more about life income gifts at Duke.
DUBAC Raises $1.6 Million for Reggie Howard Scholars
When members of the Duke University Black Alumni Connection (DUBAC) gathered to celebrate Homecoming Weekend, October 17-19, 2008, they had something else to celebrate as well. A fund-raising effort spearheaded by DUBAC members across the country has raised nearly $800,000 in gifts and pledges for Duke's Reggie Howard Scholars, and all contributions will be matched dollar for dollar, resulting in $1.6 million in new endowment. This is more than twice the target set by DUBAC board members when Duke's Financial Aid Initiative began.
The Reginaldo Howard Memorial Scholarships commemorate the first minority student-elected president of the Duke student government. These scholarships, which have played an important role in Duke's minority recruitment efforts, provide tuition and fees, room and board, and funding for enrichment opportunities to talented students of African heritage.
"We've had events across the country to promote the importance of the initiative and the Reggie Howard Scholars program," said Susan Ross, assistant vice president of Duke's Financial Aid Initiative. "DUBAC's efforts will have a lasting impact on Reggie Howard Scholars for generations to come."
A Scholarship to Honor Retiring Financial Aid Director Jim Belvin
On October 22, Duke celebrated the retirement of Jim Belvin, Duke's financial aid director for more than three decades and a national leader in the student-assistance field. At the celebration, President Richard Brodhead let him in on a secret: Over the past few months, colleagues, students, alumni, and friends had been working to create the James Belvin Jr. Scholarship Fund at Duke in his honor.
Commitments to the fund came from more than 130 donors and totaled more than $125,000. All gifts are being matched dollar for dollar to create a need-based undergraduate scholarship endowment of over $250,000.
During his 32 years as financial aid director, Belvin was responsible for administering financial support that helped enable more than 30,000 students to attend Duke. During that time, the diversity of Duke's students grew significantly, and the number of Duke undergraduates receiving financial aid grew from about 25 percent to more than 40 percent of the student body.
"One of the reasons I made it through Duke is that Jim, a rookie financial aid officer at the time, cared," said Dawn Blanchard T'78. A college counselor herself – and alumni advisor to the Financial Aid Initiative's Student Advisory Council – Blanchard helped lead this fund-raising effort.
"I never imagined an honor like this would come my way," Belvin said. "It is quite a capstone to a wonderful career."
Read the Chronicle article on Belvin's retirement.
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