“Every building needs a strong foundation, and so, too, does the College. The Scripps endowment — its financial strength — is its firm foundation.”
Jean Bixby Smith ’59 is an esteemed Scripps College alumna, donor, and volunteer; she has been a member of the Scripps College Board of Trustees since 1978. Bixby Smith served as Board Chair from 1996 to 2004. She shares her early memories of Scripps and her future hopes for the College.
My mother, Betty Bixby, attended Scripps and graduated as a member of the third class in 1933.
I grew up believing that Scripps was an intriguing, mystical place of possibilities. It was when I first visited the campus with my mother that I fell in love with the College. To this day, each time I visit Scripps, it feels like coming home.
In the College’s early days, there was a street sign announcing, “SCRIPPS COLLEGE FOR WOMEN UNDER CONSTRUCTION.” My mother was very amused by this sign and its unintended double meaning. Evidently others were, too, as the sign was later immortalized on the Graffiti Wall.
After my sister Barbara and I graduated from Scripps, our mother became a member of the Board of Trustees. She cherished her service on the Buildings and Grounds Committee where she was committed to Miss Scripps’ dream of a College “…whose simplicity and beauty will unobtrusively seep into a student’s consciousness and establish a standard of taste and judgment.”
Over the course of my own service as a trustee, I have been aware of the challenges Scripps faces in adhering to its founding vision of providing an excellent and distinctive education to women. This is why my sister and I have followed our mother’s example of contributing regularly to help the College meet its ongoing needs.
In addition, our mother’s estate plan included an endowment gift that will help to keep Scripps strong. My sister and I have already made similar commitments to help ensure that Scripps can remain a leader in women’s education.
As long as there is a campus to maintain and bright young women to educate, Scripps will remain under construction. With the community’s support, the endowment will continue to be the foundation upon which the College — and the women it graduates — build their futures.
To learn more about endowed gifts and planned giving , please contact your personal Scripps College advancement officer or call 909.621.8638.