Monicah McGee Branch ’86
Charlotte, N.C.
“It’s extremely important to me to provide opportunities to people who otherwise would not have them due to finances. As a public school kid in North Carolina, I had never even heard of Davidson, and I wasn’t as academically prepared as many of my classmates. But I managed, and I realized after graduation how important that financial aid package was.”
 Ned Davis ’61, former Trustee
President, Colville Group Ltd.
Charlotte, N.C.
“I grew up in East Tennessee and could never have come to Davidson without a scholarship. As soon as I got to campus, I realized that it would be a life-changing experience, and that’s what it was.”
Katharine Dicconson ’12
Alumni Grant
Pacific Grove, Calif.
“I felt like I fit in right away, but I could not have come to Davidson without financial aid,” says Katharine Dicconson, the only child of two working parents. She was attracted to Davidson for its location, friendly community, and the chance to compete in Division I tennis, and has found friends for life on her freshman hall. “We are really close,” she says, with a smile.
Eissabeth Dizon ’11
William H. Sprunt Scholar
Hickory, N.C.
“This scholarship means that I am able to go to my dream school. Ever since I learned of Davidson, it became my number one choice, though I doubted that I would be able to attend because my family could not afford to pay the full tuition. However, this scholarship allows me to attend! Being a Davidson student, I know I am getting the best education, and that motivates me to work hard to prove that I deserve this scholarship and the privilege of being a Davidson student.”
Watch Eissabeth's video (YouTube) as she describes her Davidson experience.
 Ginger Taylor Evans ’80, Parent ’05, ’07, ’11
Davidson Trustee
Director of Christian Education, Second Presbyterian Church
Richmond, Va.
“As a student, I was on financial aid and worked in the library for my work-study job. Each of my children has benefited from that same gracious aid and support. With college loans and other financial concerns, I rejoice in Davidson’s wonderful commitment to The Davidson Trust, which makes Davidson accessible to all students and families.”
 Elaine Hargrove ’09, Bonner Scholar
Chevy Chase, Md.
“I fully credit The Davidson Trust for the incredible experiences and opportunities I’ve had at Davidson. I now look forward to pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Vienna, rather than looking back to pay off my undergraduate loans.”
 Tiffany Hollis ’04, Bonner Scholar, Terry Fellow
Middle School Teacher
Charlotte, N.C.
“My mother, a high school dropout and a single parent, had to work three jobs to make ends meet. I practically raised my siblings, and even attended parent-teacher conferences in my mother's absence.
The most transformative change in my life was my acceptance to and arrival at Davidson—with full aid, part of which was a merit scholarship. I was the first student to arrive at Davidson on Medicaid.
While most girls on my freshman hall were receiving care packages, I was sending care packages home. But I thrived at Davidson and I am now an active, involved alumna. I’m a middle school teacher, working with disadvantaged children, going to graduate school and putting a brother through college.
I am passionate about my Davidson experience and enthusiastic about The Davidson Trust. I have pledged to make an Annual Fund gift this year to the Trust and plan to make larger gifts in the future, so that students just like me can be afforded the wonderful opportunity of attending Davidson College.”
 John Kuykendall ’59
President Emeritus of Davidson College
Davidson, N.C.
“If it hadn't been for a Union Carbide Scholarship (for people interested in chemistry—I was, briefly!—or business), I might not have been able to make it. This is one piece of a debt I'll never be able to repay.”
 Gary Long ’73
Davidson Trustee
President and Chief Operating Officer, Investcorp Bank, E.C.
Manama, Bahrain, and London, England
“I had a happy childhood. My father was an iron foundry worker, and my mother toiled her whole life in the cotton mills of Gastonia, North Carolina, mostly working a night shift. Wealthy we were not. My parents, I now recognize, sacrificed a great deal in their lives to give my siblings and me what we needed and, as much as possible, what we desired.
My particular ambition was to have the best education I could find. A Davidson College education met that requirement, but without a Sloan Scholarship and other direct financial aid, it would have been a dream unfulfilled. I went on from Davidson to an MBA, a CPA, and a career in international finance. The graduate degrees gave me a technical-finance vocabulary, but Davidson gave me the ability of critical analysis and independent thinking.
I will be forever grateful for the college's trust and support in making me who I am today. The Davidson Trust continues the great tradition of offering a great education to those who have the ability but lack the financial means to make it all possible. Davidson has long been dedicated to the core value of offering an educational opportunity to all who deserve it, including those who can’t afford it. The Trust builds on that long-established principle.”
 Prem Manjooran ’92
Davidson Trustee
Senior Vice President, The Capital Group, Inc.
Singapore
“I came to Davidson 20 years ago, thanks entirely to the unwavering generosity of generations of alumni past, with nothing asked for in return but that I become a contributing member of the college community. I found warmth, welcome, lasting friendships, a core value system—and an education that taught me the value of "questioning," focus, discipline, and commitment, while embracing my personal goals and aspirations. The Davidson experience, and the focus on the community, continues to define me—and reminds me that the collective is always greater than the individual, and that opportunities to excel, and to serve, are not mutually exclusive.”
 Irma Navarro ’07, Charles Scholar
Admission Counselor, Davidson College
Davidson, N.C.
“The offer of admission to Davidson also came with the Charles Scholarship; the trust that I was awarded made every class lecture, reading assignment, and term paper seem even more meaningful. Because of that trust, every day on campus was a gift and an opportunity to give back.”
 Rich Perkey ’80
Member, Davidson Board of Visitors
Investment Consultant
Atlanta, Ga.
“My senior year in high school, I was recruited by several Division I and Division II schools for basketball, but no scholarships emerged. My mom was the secretary to the president of Lynchburg College, and my dad had just begun a new venture, installing window for Sears and other stores. A basketball scholarship to Davidson was not in the cards, but Lynchburg College had a very generous benefit in which they would pay a portion of the tuition to another college for their staff members in good standing. To cobble together the remaining cost of Davidson meant financial aid, as well as work-study jobs.
My first work-study job was on the grounds crew, raking leaves and walking around campus with a burlap sack slung over my shoulder, using a wooden stick with a nail poking out the end, to stab trash on the grounds. Let's just say that it was character-building to be picking up trash while your classmates were asleep at 6:30 in the morning. At first I was a little embarrassed by it—it was the first time that I ever really felt "different" based on my personal economics, but quickly I started to think, this is pretty cool, and the grounds crew guys could not have been nicer to me.
I made the basketball team as a walk-on later that fall of my freshman year, so I was no longer able to punch the clock for my work-study job—as basketball and studies were all consuming. But I was somewhat of a hero to the guys of the grounds crew—one of their own was playing on the Wildcat basketball team!
My sophomore year I “graduated” to a job in the Sports Information Department, and then my junior year I was asked to run the poster shop, located in the mezzanine of the college union, and I received a full basketball scholarship for my senior season. I played 22 minutes a game my junior year-- we beat U Conn and Wake Forest; and I played 15 minutes a game my senior year.
Today, I have a special place in my heart when I walk across the campus and see the grounds crew guys mowing the lawn, raking leaves, and picking up trash. I am one of their own.
 Mac Read ’10, Helmut Deussen Scholar
Lumberton, N.C.
“Davidson was my first choice, but my parents cautioned that without scholarship help, they didn’t see how it could happen. But my awards and work-study brought tuition into the range of a public university, so here I am. I love it, and I’m very grateful.”
 Mordecai Scott ’10, B.D. Rodgers Scholar
Charlotte, N.C.
In high school, Mordecai Scott worked selling shoes and saved what he could. “I knew my parents couldn’t afford to help me pay to go to college… I was really good at selling those shoes!” Davidson’s Admission and Financial Aid counselors took that and ran with it, providing a financial aid package that made Davidson possible. Now Scott looks ahead with confidence and an open mind. “I feel like I could have success in business. But I also want to do something that benefits society. Some people think it’s the choice between having a salary and saving the world. I think it’s bigger than that.”
 Whitney White ’08, John Montgomery Belk Scholar
Associate Consultant, Bain & Company
Atlanta, Ga.
“As a Belk Scholar who would not have been able to afford Davidson without such a generous gift, I found that the most remarkable part of my Davidson experience was being surrounded by brilliant thinkers, compassionate leaders, and thoughtful servants who've become lifelong friends. I was blessed to live, learn and grow with friends from Brevard to Bulgaria to Brooklyn, all because Davidson trusted their promise and invested in their futures, as it had mine. My education, both in and outside of the classroom, would not have been as profound had I not been embedded in a community of peers from diverse geographic, ethnic, and, most certainly, socioeconomic backgrounds.”
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