Matching scholarship funds benefit New College students
Thanks to the generosity of three sets of donors, and an innovative new endowment program established by ASU in partnership with the ASU Foundation for A New American University, students in ASU’s New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences can look forward to additional scholarship support in the near future.
The Foundation recently unveiled the New American University Scholarship Matching Program. ASU has agreed to match 4 percent per year on an endowed scholarship commitment of $50,000 or more for the first 10 years. For example, a fully funded $50,000 scholarship fund would receive an extra $2,000 a year in payouts for a decade, on top of the payout earned through the investment performance of the endowment. The bottom line is more scholarship dollars for students.
This initiative has already helped to prompt the establishment of three new endowments to support New College students: the Matthew Tweedie Memorial New American University Scholarship; the John and Pit Lucking New American University Scholarship; and the Anne Lindeman New American University Scholarship, funded by the Helios Education Foundation.
“We are very proud of this living legacy to our son’s memory,” said Carolyn Tweedie. She and her husband Ken have set up a scholarship fund to honor their late son Matthew, who graduated cum laude from New College in 2001.
“Following the death of our son Matt in February, the idea of establishing a scholarship in his name slowly evolved,” Carolyn Tweedie said. “Through our grief and sorrow, we as a family felt a strong need to honor his memory in a permanent and positive way. The idea of an endowed scholarship at ASU seemed to us so fitting, given Matt’s love of learning and his success and enthusiasm for his studies while a student at ASU’s West campus.”
Tweedie said the campus was a perfect fit for her son, a non-traditional age student who felt comfortable yet challenged at West. “Matt’s professors recognized his potential and encouraged him along the way, in some cases asking him to tutor other students who were struggling. ASU West fostered his interest in the sciences and mathematics, sparked his creativity and aptitude for written expression, and provided him with a foundation and a springboard for his next step following ASU graduation – law school,” she said.
John and Pit Lucking have a long track record of supporting students, like Matthew Tweedie, who take non-traditional routes to a college degree. “John and I both dropped out of college for a time,” Pit Lucking said. “When we returned, we came back with a purpose and took our studies much more seriously. We said when we got married that if someday we had the ability to do so, we would establish a scholarship to help returning students.”
The J. Charles and Katharine Wetzler Scholarship, named in honor of Pit Lucking’s parents, has impacted the lives of numerous returning students at the West campus since 1998. Now, the Luckings have established another scholarship endowment under the New American University Scholarship Matching Program.
“We both love Arizona and feel the best way we can ensure its bright future is by investing in its educational programs,” said Pit Lucking. “With a scholarship we can literally watch our investment grow as we follow the wonderful development of the recipient. And we feel like we are getting more ‘bang for the buck’ thanks to the university’s commitment to adding to the size of our scholarship payout.”
Pit Lucking has a long history of service to ASU. In 1998 she launched a Volunteer Information and Referral Services office on the West campus. She did so as a volunteer herself. She also has served as a member of the ASU Foundation Board.
The third newly established New American University Scholarship benefiting New College students honors another individual who has made a lasting impact on the West campus. The late Anne Lindeman served in the Arizona legislature from 1973 to 1986, and was one of the strongest supporters of the campus’s establishment.
In the late 1970s Lindeman pushed for the legislature to order a feasibility study, which concluded that a Westside campus of ASU was urgently needed. She supported the legislation signed in 1984 by Gov. Bruce Babbitt that directed the Board of Regents to establish the West campus. Now Lindeman’s name will be permanently associated with a scholarship benefiting a student on the campus’s core college, thanks to the support of the Helios Education Foundation.
“We are immensely grateful for the generosity of these and other donors who are helping our students reach their career and life goals,” said Elizabeth Langland, dean of New College and vice provost of the West campus. “It’s an exciting time on campus, with new buildings and new scholarships combining to give students the support they need.”
The ASU Foundation works closely with donors to make sure their gifts have their intended impact. “For our family, working with ASU to establish this scholarship has been a great experience,” said Carolyn Tweedie.
“All those with whom we have come in contact – whether at the ASU Foundation or at the West campus – have been accommodating, informative, professional and receptive to our wishes and needs,” she said. “This has been more of a process than an event for us, a thoughtful and collaborative process, as we have explored options and gained knowledge and understanding of the possibilities that the endowment can offer. Through it all, we have made connections and established relationships with ASU personnel that will be ongoing.”
Like all endowments, each of these new scholarship funds will create a permanent legacy, which the Tweedie family sees as a fitting memorial for their son. “Those who knew Matt recognized his specialness, his big heart, and his desire to help others in all walks of life,” his mother said. “By establishing the Matthew Tweedie Memorial New American University Scholarship, we know that other students with similar gifts and capabilities will have the opportunity to further their education and reach their goals in life.”