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$10 million new matching gift for scholarships from Sam Rose to America’s oldest college
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$10 million new matching gift for scholarships from Sam Rose to America’s oldest college

Sam Rose one of Dickinson College’s biggest scholarship donors, has just come forward to launch the $10 million Change a Life Challenge.

Much of Rose’s prior support for Dickinson has helped to level the playing field for students who would not otherwise be able to afford a Dickinson education. Since 2000, he has committed more than $10 million to The Samuel G. Rose Scholarship for economically disadvantaged students from urban areas, which has benefitted more than 150 students.

As a scholarship supporter, Rose attends an annual dinner with his scholarship recipients and brings guests who offer the students advice and encouragement. A significant portion of this new gift will increase endowed support for this scholarship.

In 2012, Rose and his wife Julie Walters created the Rose-Walters Prize to focus attention on the need to reduce the impact of human lives on the planet. The $100,000 prize is given annually to an individual or organization that makes a defining difference and advances responsible action on behalf of the planet, its resources and people.

A prior year’s recipient is the advocacy organization Our Children’s Trust. Previous recipients are Brett Jenks, CEO of conservation nonprofit Rare; Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert; award-winning actor and environmental activist Mark Ruffalo; author and environmental activist Bill McKibben; Apple’s vice president of environment, policy and social initiatives and former EPA administrator Lisa Jackson; and award-winning nature photographer James Balog.

Endowing the Rose-Walters Prize secures Dickinson’s place in the national dialogue on broader environmental issues and increases public awareness of the dangers of unregulated pollution.

In 2012, Rose and Walters also donated $6 million for a new, 22,000-square-foot Durden Athletic Training Center, named in honor of former Dickinson president William Durden, class of 1971, and his wife, Dr. Elke Durden. Rose’s affinity with Dickinson’s athletics was cemented as a student-athlete. In 1958, Rose and the Dickinson lacrosse team made college history by winning Dickinson’s first and only national title. “Sam’s generosity makes an enormous difference in the lives of our students,” said Kirk Swenson, vice president for college advancement. “Making a tangible difference in the world through Dickinson is at the root of Sam’s philanthropy.”

Rose is a real estate developer and attorney with more than 40 years of experience in commercial development, primarily in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. “Scholarship support can be the difference between receiving a college education or taking another path in life. A Dickinson education is a great way to prepare them to tackle the substantial challenges that lie ahead,” offered Rose.

Rose is an emeritus trustee of the college and previously served as vice chair of the board of directors of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. He and Walters are members of Dickinson’s Founders’ Society, which honors donors whose philanthropy has made an indelible impact on the college.

Dickinson College is a private liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1773 as Carlisle Grammar School, Dickinson was chartered on September 9, 1783, making it the first college to be founded after the formation of the United States.

Through this challenge, Sam will match the next $10 million given toward scholarships, helping us complete this historic campaign successfully.

This campaign seeks to raise enough money to ensure that every Dickinson student who needs a scholarship receives one.

The goal is to ensure that we provide sufficient aid to meet the full demonstrated need of every student we admit—to ensure financial constraints never prevent potential Dickinsonians from experiencing this life-changing and world-changing education.

Sam Rose stated: “By investing in this effort, you will change a student’s life, you will help provide this transformational experience to someone who couldn’t afford it without your help. But you’ll also change the world because Dickinson graduates don’t keep the benefits of this education to themselves. They become the doctors and scientists fighting disease; the entrepreneurs and business leaders solving problems and creating jobs; the nonprofit leaders, lawyers—and even the judges—creating a more just and equitable world; the artists, teachers and performers who move us, inspire us and help us understand the world. They join all the Dickinsonians out there making a difference every day.”


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