Every year, hundreds of students on financial aid receive University funds with the donor's name attached. These endowed scholarships range in size and are often available only to students from specific families or countries - and in one case to descendants of firefighters, police or victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
Some endowed scholarships date back as far as 1842. These days there are 850 named scholarships, a number which has increased from 800 in the last three years, according to Amanda Woodward, assistant director of financial aid.
Only students eligible for University financial aid can receive grant money in the form of a named scholarship. Endowed scholarships do not replace loans or the expected family contribution, Woodward said. Some endowed funds grant only $1,000 per year in scholarship money, while others cover nearly all of a student's annual expenses.
One of the more notable new endowed scholarships, the Sidney E. Frank Endowed Scholarship Fund, goes exclusively to students with the highest level of need. Sidney Frank '42 established the fund in 2004 with a $100 million gift to Brown - the largest single donation in the University's history. Brown meets all of each Sidney Frank Scholar's demonstrated need without the use of loans.
"It's a really, really sweet deal," said a sophomore Sidney Frank Scholar who asked not to be named. "You basically get to leave college debt-free." Though the students do not personally interact with the Frank family or other Sidney Frank Scholars during the semester, the students met each other at a lunch during Orientation.
A donor who establishes an endowed scholarship fund can outline specific criteria a student must meet to receive the endowed scholarship.
Because donors can set qualification requirements, some scholarships are only available to a handful of students - if any. For example, the Green Family Scholarship only goes to students from Bermuda; the Crane Fund for Widows is reserved for children of widows; two scholarship funds are dedicated to students with disabilities; three funds go to legacies of the classes of 1952,1953 and the Pembroke class of 1951; and five separate scholarships are reserved for males entering the Baptist ministry.
Some endowed scholarships are never awarded because the development office cannot find a student who meets a fund's criteria.
Though students receiving endowed scholarships generally do not have personal contact with their benefactors, donors are given detailed reports about the student recipient by the Office of Development.
The reports are based on a financial aid biographical form filled out every year by students receiving financial aid and contain information about summer jobs, future plans and extracurricular involvement. The form also includes a text box asking the student to express gratitude toward donors for their generosity.
Several scholarships are available to students who have faced personal tragedies. The Lt. Chuck Margiotta '79 Memorial Scholarship arose out of a moment of national tragedy. Margiotta, a member of the 1976 Ivy League Championship football squad and Delta Tau, was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Margiotta, a firefighter, was off-duty, but he drove anyway to the nearest fire company to join in the rescue effort when he saw smoke rising from the World Trade Center.
In a Nov. 10, 2001 ceremony honoring Margiotta and his 1976 teammates, Former Brown trustee Martin Granoff P'93 made a surprise gift of $1.5 million in Margiotta's name.
"It was a total surprise," said Margiotta's brother, Mike, whose family never met or spoke with Granoff prior to the announcement. "(Granoff) is an absolute saint."
Eligibility is limited to descendents of Margiotta, of any firefighter or police officer or of any victim of the Sept. 11 attacks. So far, four students have been awarded the scholarship, including Margiotta's nephew, Mike, who is a member of the class of 2007.
