myVU - Resources for Faculty and Staff

Scholarship donors and recipients come together at reception

Posted 3/26/2010

The vital importance of scholarship gifts in attracting the best students to campus was demonstrated at the Vanderbilt University-wide Scholarship Reception in the lobby of Langford Auditorium. “The true meaning of giving comes from these young people,” Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos said during remarks to the many donors and recipients of scholarships who were in attendance.

The biennial event, which began in 2004, has become an important tradition for the university and an additional opportunity to thank donors who have helped make possible a Vanderbilt education. As donors and recipients visited on March 24, students expressed gratitude to their benefactors personally for the financial assistance provided them.

The chancellor praised the donors for generosity that has enabled the university to thrive during uncertain economic times. The scholarships make it possible for highly talented students of all backgrounds and means to learn side-by-side with their peers, he said.

Scholarship assistance is central to the university’s mission of providing access to a Vanderbilt education to all who are eligible. There has been and remains no higher priority in the Shape the Future campaign than to raise scholarship support for students. The campaign has raised more than $330 million for financial aid, and it remains a top priority.

“My reason for giving was simple,” Doug Davis said. “I wanted students to be able to graduate debt free, just as I did from the School of Engineering.” Davis and his wife, who reside in Atlanta, have endowed the Doug and Penny Davis Scholarship. Davis noted that tuition and cost-of-living were a lot lower when he earned his B.E. in 1965. Four Davis Scholarship recipients attended the reception, including twins Alec Thomas Coston and Taylor David Coston, who also happen to be from Atlanta. Both are majoring in biomedical engineering. “My family is deeply appreciative to Mr. and Mrs. Davis for helping to fund our Vanderbilt education, especially since Alec and I have three other siblings,” Taylor Coston said.
   
Karina Mendez Keil, a member of the Class of 2012, said that receiving the Strayhorn Honor Scholarship and having the opportunity to live at The Commons clinched her decision to come to Vanderbilt. Mendez Keil, who is from Skokie, Ill., is enrolled in the College of Arts and Science. She plans to major in psychology. Her scholarship was established by the late Elizabeth Strayhorn Walsh in memory of Walsh’s father and her three brothers. All of them were Vanderbilt’s graduates as well as her two nephews, Alfred Blaylock Strayhorn and Dr. William David Strayhorn III.

Alfred Strayhorn, who earned his B.A. in 1959, said that his aunt had a very strong interest in education. Walsh’s nephews and their wives stay in contact with Vanderbilt and the Strayhorn scholarship recipients. “Karina is almost like a member of our family,” Strayhorn said. “We have enjoyed getting to know Karina, who is an excellent student, and have dined several times with her as well as her father when he visited.” 
     
More than 200 donors and recipients attended the reception representing schools and areas across the university. Currently, Vanderbilt has more than 900 endowed scholarship funds.

Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, 615-322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu

---