In “Beating the Odds”, you will read about several students who benefited from the Alumni Leadership Scholarship Fund, a program funded by alumni like you. They overcame great hardship for the privilege of studying at UCSD, your alma mater. These young people are perfect examples of students who display personal determination and a steadfast belief in the value of higher education as a means to a better life.

You will read about a student whose mother was accused of a serious crime in a highly publicized criminal trial and whose only sibling suffers from a debilitating mental disorder. Nevertheless, he earned top academic honors and plays an active leadership role in the local arts community. Another student faced myriad challenges when her unemployed parents separated, leaving her despondent. Even so, her circumstances did not stop her from achieving academic honors nor from volunteering tirelessly to help those less fortunate. A third student overcame unbearable problems at home, with a father addicted to methamphetamines and alcohol. This remarkable student now volunteers at halfway houses, hospitals and other community groups, in addition to his full class schedule.

These are young people with every reason in the world to give up, but who instead displayed perseverance rewarded by scholarship aid from people like you. Current funding in the Alumni Leadership Scholarship Fund, however, falls far below what we need to serve these most deserving applicants. The shortfall in need-based financial aid at UCSD reflects a troubling trend: our University loses top-ranked students to other institutions—including public and private institutions in California and elsewhere—with far greater scholarship reserves. The numbers are sobering. For 2003-2004, UCSD’s scholarship funding was one-third of UCLA’s and one-eighth of UC Berkeley’s. As a comparatively young university, UCSD has not yet built a sufficient endowment, but I am confident that with your help we can strengthen our ability to attract and enroll the best and brightest students in the world, particularly those in need.

As alumni, you can play a pivotal role in developing the talents of future UCSD graduates by supporting any of a variety of scholarships. Besides the Alumni Leadership Scholarship Fund, you may choose to support Chancellor’s Scholars, Chancellor’s Research Scholarships, Transfer Student Scholarships, International Study Abroad Scholarships or International House Residency Scholarships. Kim Signoret-Paar in our Student Affairs Development Office can provide you with details: 858-822-1536 or via email at kspaar@ucsd.edu.

I hope you are as touched by these profiles as I have been, and that these poignant stories inspire you to provide the means for a future alumnus or alumna to join your distinguished ranks. As the UCSD Alumni Association reminds us, “Once a student, always an alumnus.”

MARYE ANNE FOX
Chancellor  CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE