By Kendra Pintor
When Ellen Browning Scripps founded Scripps College in 1926, she established an institution that would educate women to develop their intellects and talents during a time when women were denied college admission simply because of their gender. Throughout Scripps’ rich history, there continue to be many notable alums—including Sallie Tiernan ’45, whose legacies reinforce the importance of Scripps’ continued existence.
Scripps College is excited to share that The Seaver Institute, founded in 1955 by Frank R. Seaver, has generously gifted $1 million to a scholarship in honor of Sallie Tiernan. The gift will also be leveraged as a special matching challenge to inspire the broader Scripps community to support the Scripps Access Initiative (SAI), an ambitious $15 million scholarship project to help more exceptional, under-resourced students attend Scripps.
Honoring a Family Commitment to Higher Education
The Seaver family’s connection to Scripps and The Claremont Colleges runs deep. Frank Seaver and his five siblings, nephew Richard, and several other relatives were and are alums of Pomona College. Frank’s parents’ home was moved from Pomona to Claremont and is now used as Pomona College’s alumni house. In addition to Pomona, Frank also supported Scripps and Claremont McKenna College (CMC), as well as many schools in Southern California including Loyola Marymount, USC, Pepperdine, Don Bosco HS, Harvard-Westlake HS, and Pilgrim School. For Frank and his wife Blanche, education was the key to a better life and the future of our communities.
While Richard Seaver was attending Pomona in the 1940s, he met Sallie Tiernan, who was studying at Scripps. Sallie attended Scripps for a year before transferring to Stanford, where she graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, which was not offered in Claremont at the time. She later earned a law degree from UCLA while raising her growing family. Sallie and Richard had five children, two of whom—Victoria Seaver Dean and Chris Seaver—continued their family’s enduring commitment to higher education at Scripps College.
“Sallie was everything to us,” explains Dean, a life trustee of Scripps College and president of The Seaver Institute. “She cared deeply about Scripps and dedicated much of her extra time to the College—we’re fortunate to continue that legacy through the Sallie Tiernan ’45 Scholarship and all scholarships offered at the College.”
Previously, the family helped fund the Tiernan Field house, and Sallie established the Sallie Suzanne Tiernan Award to support students planning to attend law school.
“My mother believed that Scripps was a place where students learned to be individuals,” Dean reflects. “The scholarship and memorial award are just two ways we support students who are following in her footsteps, ensuring that financial barriers don’t stand in the way of their education.”
A Call to the Scripps Community
The Seaver Institute’s $1 million gift is not just a donation, but also a call to action for the Scripps community.
The matching gift challenge aims to motivate families, alums, trustees, and all members of the Scripps community to give generously to financial aid for future students. According to Dean, “We want people to support scholarships, whether it’s for SAI or otherwise—the goal is to fund students who are academically qualified, regardless of their financial means.”
By continuing to support scholarships at Scripps, Dean and the entire Seaver family hope to provide more students with the opportunity to thrive in the intellectually rigorous and empowering environment the College offers.
“Supporting this scholarship is about honoring our mother, but it’s also about investing in the future of Scripps,” Dean explains. “We want to ensure that the College remains a place where students can grow, learn, and become the leaders of tomorrow.”
To support SAI, we invite you to make a gift online here or you may contact Enrique Gonzalez-Salgado at (909) 607-8255 | [email protected].