Students' Fourth Annual Benefit Dinner for the Davidson Trust Nets $70,000 for Scholarships

Davidson College students continued their commitment to higher education accessibility and affordability Saturday evening by hosting their fourth annual "Dinner at Davidson," a benefit for The Davidson Trust. The students' fundraising efforts and a matching gift produced a total of $70,000 in support for the Student Government Association Davidson Trust Scholarship, which is awarded annually to an incoming student with financial need who demonstrated exceptional leadership ability in high school.

The Dinner at Davidson was part of a larger effort by the SGA's Student Trust Awareness Committee (STAC). STAC works to rally community support for the Trust, which is considered the college's top priority.

The Davidson Trust supports the college's longstanding need-blind admission policy, and the college's historic decision to meet 100 percent of demonstrated need of accepted students through a combination of grants and campus employment, without issuing loan packages.

This year's Dinner at Davidson was a completely student-run event. It featured a reception at President Carol Quillen's house, a gourmet dinner catered by the student "P.S." culinary club, and the debut of a play titled "Trust" written by senior student Rodney Saunders. The production incorporated musical and dance performances by several campus groups, and highlighted the impact of the Davidson Trust on the admission considerations of high school students.

More than 300 students, faculty, staff, and community members attended this year's Dinner at Davidson, making it the largest yet. The event raised $35,000 through a combination of ticket sales, donations, and an online auction. Shortly after the event, a group of anonymous donors contributed an additional $35,000 in recognition of the students' efforts.

After learning of the matching gift, STAC co-chairs Laura Arnold '14 and Heidi Gruber '14 commented, "This matching gift affirms that our hard work has paid off. We hope that our fundraising and awareness-raising efforts continue to inspire increased support for the Davidson Trust."

This year's figure brings the student committee's four-year fundraising total for the Davidson Trust to $146,000.

To make a contribution to the student effort to support the Trust, or to find out more information about Dinner at Davidson, please visit davidson.edu/dinneratdavidson or e-mail Laura Arnold at laarnold@davidson.edu or Heidi Gruber at hegruber@davidson.edu.

To read the coverage of this event in The Davidsonian student newspaper, visit tinyurl.com/dinneratdavidsoncelebrated.