The new endowed scholarship will continue the work of Tiedens’ Presidential Scholarship Initiative.
By Emily Glory Peters
After a five-year tenure, Lara Tiedens will be stepping down as president of Scripps College on April 15, 2021. To honor the impact of Tiedens’ leadership and celebrate her many contributions to the College, members of Scripps’ Board of Trustees have jointly established an endowed scholarship fund in her name.
“President Tiedens’ unwavering devotion to Scripps’ mission and commitment to making higher education affordable has propelled the College to historic levels of achievement. Her leadership helped the College secure more than $10 million in private gifts to support the Presidential Scholarship Initiative, which helps to cover the full cost of tuition for our lowest-income students and families,” says Board Chair Lynne Thompson ’72. “The Lara Tiedens Scholarship Fund will build on this important work and expand student access to Scripps.”
Since its founding in 1926, the College has had nine presidents. The new fund reflects the College’s more recent practice of creating endowed funds honoring these leaders, including the Lori Bettison-Varga Fund for Student Thesis and Research Support and the Nancy Y. Bekavac Scholarship Fund. Being endowed in perpetuity, funds like these not only recognize past presidential accomplishments, but also help secure Scripps’ financial future and ability to create a more diverse, vibrant student body.
Says Thompson, “Gifts to the Lara Tiedens Endowed Scholarship will help the College continue to dismantle financial barriers for highly qualified students. We hope others will join us in supporting this commitment.”
Typically, more than a third of Scripps’ expenses go toward financial aid for students. To make a gift to scholarships today, please click here.