October 08, 2009

Contact:   Stacey Schmeidel, 704/894-2798

Davidson, NC--Jehan Shamsid-Deen, a 2001 graduate of Davidson College, will appear on ABC's syndicated television show Who Wants to be a Millionaire this Friday, Oct. 9. (Check Web for local air times.)

Shamsid-Deen taped the show several weeks ago, but is sworn to silence about the results. "I had three goals," she said in an e-mail about the program. "First: Don't trip/fall getting to, into, or out of the hotseat chair (God has little ways of keeping me humble). Second: Don't embarrass my family....And finally: Win at least $5,000, so that I could pay for my flight and hotel and put some money toward the little scholarship I started at my high school."

Shamsid-Deen won't say whether she achieved her goals, but she does say, "Everyone should try out."

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,800 students located 20 minutes north of Charlotte in Davidson, N.C. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. Through The Davidson Trust, the college became the first liberal arts institution in the nation to replace loans with grants in all financial aid packages, giving all students the opportunity to graduate debt-free. Davidson competes in NCAA athletics at the Division I level, and a longstanding Honor Code is central to student life at the college.

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