The high school senior never paid much attention to the mail. Until now. Andrea Weigand is waiting to find out whether she has been accepted by Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Finally, the letter comes. It’s thick—a good sign. Quickly ripping open the envelope, she nervously glances at the first word of the cover letter. It says: Congratulations!
Weigand, who wants to major in Business Administration, is euphoric. She knows that Tepper is ranked among the top 10 undergraduate business schools by the U.S. News & World Report rankings. What a wonderful opportunity! But then a new emotion sets in—anxiety. Without assistance of some kind, Carnegie Mellon’s tuition and other costs are much more than her family can afford. Her heart sinks when she realizes that she might very well have to attend another college based on a price tag instead of what she’ll learn in the classroom.
The dilemma facing Weigand is certainly not uncommon. In today’s economic climate, tens of thousands of students accepted at universities like Carnegie Mellon must carefully weigh the inevitability of debt from student loans. Many find it too large a burden to bear when making their enrollment decisions. Who can blame them, considering the uncertainty that waits in a difficult job market. Weigand, with two working parents from middle-class suburbia in western Pennsylvania, is well aware of the financial limitations she faces.
After she deciphers the proposed Carnegie Mellon financial aid package and then compares it to the costs of some state schools where she has been accepted, she can’t deny the harsh reality of the situation. She sits down with her mom and dad to discuss whether she has any options other than to decline Carnegie Mellon’s acceptance offer.
Her parents tell her that the last thing they want for her is to graduate with crippling debt. Weigand understands and is prepared to go to a less expensive—if less appropriate— university. But Weigand’s mom can see her daughter’s disappointment and makes a promise to her: “We’ll make this work.”
The first step they take is to file an appeal to Carnegie Mellon for more financial aid, submitting another private university’s financial aid package for Weigand as grounds—an option for accepted students who receive assistance. Carnegie Mellon matches the other offer with the Rosalyn C. Richman and Cheryl S. Ryave Radov Margaret Morrison Carnegie Scholarship, a women’s scholarship established in 2000 by Selma P. Ryave (MM'69) and named for her two daughters. The addition of this scholarship, given in recognition of Weigand’s academic record, makes the tuition comparable to the state universities. A few months later, she’s all smiles as she takes part in Carnegie Mellon’s freshman orientation for the Class of 2013.
Today, Weigand is in her junior year at Tepper and says she couldn’t be more pleased with her education in and out of the classroom. Freshman year, she pledged the coed professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi. The fraternity competes in case-study competitions and holds charitable events on campus. And, in keeping with the university’s interdisciplinary spirit, she has also become involved in the university’s mock-trial club, a favorite of pre-law majors, which gives students interested in the legal system an opportunity to build both sides of a case and act it out. Weigand has assumed the roles of an attorney and a witness. And, on the campus community front, she has taken up the reins as a resident assistant in the Morewood Gardens residence hall—helping freshmen transition to college life and getting them involved in events and campus activities.
Weigand says she will be forever grateful to her parents for the financial sacrifices they made so she could attend Carnegie Mellon. But even with their assistance, it still took the financial aid she received—coupled with the generosity of Selma Ryave, her donor alumna mentor—to make her Carnegie Mellon education possible. Upon graduation, there will still be loans waiting for her, but she says she won’t be paralyzed by her future debt.
Her good fortune has prompted her to write a thank-you letter to Ryave annually during Carnegie Mellon’s Love a Donor Week each spring. She simply stops into one of the many letter-writing stations set up around campus by staff, and like many other students, especially those with named scholarships, jots down her gratitude to Ryave: “I just want to thank her specifically for doing something that she might not realize is so helpful,” Weigand says. “I don’t see it as charity or a handout, because her gift has enabled me to take on so much, kind of like a ‘Pay It Forward.’”
Ryave’s daughter, Rosalyn Richman (MM’68), one of the scholarship’s namesakes, can relate to the “Pay It Forward” mentality. Before embarking on a successful career in an executive leadership program for women at academic medical centers, she too received assistance to attend Carnegie Mellon: “I have forever valued my education I received there; it compelled me to give back to others.” She and her mother established another scholarship, the Selma Podolsky Ryave Margaret Morrison Carnegie College Scholarship, in 2000.
Weigand isn’t shy or embarrassed when talking about what Ryave's gift has meant to her. Last fall, she spoke at a dinner for donors, standing in front of them as a living benefactor of their generosity. She began by saying: Life is not about what you have, but what you do with it. Life is not about money, but what you achieve with it.
She then told her story, but at the same time let them know that it wasn’t just the scholarship that helped her get to where she is today: What it takes is heart. It takes heart in your studies, heart in your activities, and it takes the heart of others who can help you on your way.
She concluded by paying homage to Andrew Carnegie, whose motto was: “My heart is in the work.” She noted how both her classmates and those in attendance would have made one of the university’s principal namesakes proud: All the students have their heart in the work. But I’d have to say there’s a great many people who have their heart in the university, and what it takes to help people reach their dreams.
Helping others is something that Weigand identifies with, not just through being an RA. If you can get through every hurdle at Carnegie Mellon without help, then “you should be running the world,” she jokes. The encouraging and supportive community she feels a part of is just one more reason she is grateful to have found a way to enroll at Carnegie Mellon. “We all understand that we will be in the library at all hours of the day, but it’s because we want to be better for our sake—not because we want someone else to be worse.” She loves that the environment is collaborative, not competitive—a point of pride she thinks Carnegie Mellon has over some of the Ivy League schools.
The university’s trustees have become directly involved in helping more students like Weigand. Last fall, the Inspire Innovation Capital Campaign launched the Trustee Challenge. It’s a two-year giving initiative geared toward all members of the worldwide university community. The initiative encourages donors to reach new levels of giving through the assistance of trustee gifts with a primary goal of increasing scholarships and financial support for students.
The way it works is that prospective donors with the passion—but perhaps not the means—can still make a significant contribution to the university because of whole or partially matched gifts from the university’s trustees. There are four separate but interconnected pieces to the Trustee Challenge, all of which help students in need of financial assistance.
Through these four challenges, the university aims to create about 250 new scholarships during the next two years in order to ease the burden of the cost of a Carnegie Mellon education. One of the reasons Weigand says she has come forward with her story is that she believes students shouldn’t be forced to choose between a school that they feel is best suited for them and manageable debt. She feels like she belongs at Carnegie Mellon. She thrives in being a part of a community that she’ll unabashedly tell you is “driven and quirky,” in the best possible way. Her friends “get” her stories, understand her drive, and don’t question her whether she is spending weekend nights at the library or getting involved in some activity that has nothing to do with her major.
After three years at Carnegie Mellon, she says with the utmost confidence: “It was the only right choice.” What’s more, she can say it without the dread of unwieldy future debt. The Trustee Challenge aims to stuff the good fortune Weigand has experienced into more Carnegie Mellon acceptance letters.
Shannon Deep (CMU’10,HNZ’11) of New York City has been a regular contributor to this magazine since her senior year at Carnegie Mellon.
$1 Billion and Counting
Carnegie Mellon University’s Inspire Innovation campaign has crossed the $1 billion milestone.
Thanks to the generous support of our alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends, the campaign has raised $1.01 billion to date, with $530.6 million going toward our endowment.
Already, we are experiencing the amazing impact this campaign has generated across the entire university, including the establishment of 190 endowed scholarships, 73 endowed fellowships, and 24 endowed professorships.
With the campaign ending on June 30, 2013, there is still time for you to be a part of this historic effort.
The Inspire Innovation Trustee Challenge
There are four separate but interconnected pieces to the Trustee Challenge, all of which help students in need of financial assistance.
Loyal Scot Trustee Challenge
Loyal Scots complete four steps each fiscal year:
- Staying Informed
- Getting Involved
- Giving Back
- Showing Pride
The alumni chapter that reaches thehighest percentage of Loyal Scots among its members by June 30, 2012, will have the naming rights to a $100,000 trustees' gift designated to an endowed student support fund. The challenge repeats the following year.
Andrew Carnegie Society Legacy Scholarship Trustee Challenge
This aspect of the Trustee Challenge encourages donors to create ACS Legacy Scholarships of $10,000 for only a $7,000 contribution. The other $3,000 will come from trustees' contributions. (Certain restrictions apply in terms of donor eligibility.)
Endowed Scholarship Trustee Challenge
Normally, a $50,000 gift to the university is required to establish a named endowed scholarship. With a partially matched gift, the Trustee Challenge almost halves that commitment. Now, qualified donors need only contribute $30,000 and the trustees will provide the remaining $20,000.
Dietrich College Trustee Challenge
Trustee David Shapira and the Giant Eagle Foundation are offering approximately $800,000 in matching funds to support the Dietrich College of H&SS, which includes matching on a dollar-for-dollar basis any gift of $500 to $100,000 made to the Dietrich College Dean's Innovation Fund. (Opportunities exist to have this challenge tie in to the ACS Challenge.)
For Trustee Challenge details, visit www.cmu.edu/campaign/challenge
