Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton has announced a $20 million commitment from Life Trustee John F. McDonnell to support scholarships and fellowships as part of Leading Together: The Campaign for Washington University. This is one of the largest single scholarship gifts in the history of the university.
The gift establishes the McDonnell Scholarship Challenge, which will match all new or increased gifts for scholarships and fellowships for undergraduate, graduate and professional students at Washington University in St. Louis, up to $20 million.
To qualify for the match, gifts and commitments must be received by the end of the campaign June 30, 2018. Multiyear pledges payable through June 30, 2023, are encouraged and will count toward the campaign total.
Increasing resources for scholarships and fellowships is one of the most important priorities of Leading Together. The campaign has raised more than $440 million for scholarship support to date.
“Washington University students all share extraordinary potential to make a difference in the world,” McDonnell said.
“They will go on to found and manage organizations, find cures for diseases, fill important government posts in this country and around the world, author the next Pulitzer or Booker Prize-winning novel, and design the next architectural masterpiece. What a loss it would be, and how sad it would be, if we, who could have helped, didn’t.”
Read more about the scholarship challenge and John F. McDonnell at The Source.