Donors Invest in Students’ Future
BARCOTT: Pledges to pay back donors in “service and deeds.”
Photo by Russ Campbell
I am here tonight to thank all the donors who believe in the promise that the students in this room represent,” Rye Barcott (MBA ’09) told the nearly 550 people gathered in early April to celebrate the impact of the fellowship program at HBS. The annual rite of spring brings together donors and their student beneficiaries for dinner in Shad Hall.
Barcott, a graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill who served in the Marine Corps in Iraq before enrolling at HBS, told a moving story of the nonprofit he established as an undergraduate while doing research in Kenya’s Kibera slum, the largest in Africa. Today, Carolina for Kibera runs a clinic that treats more than 30,000 patients a year as well as a number of programs to ease ethnic tension and educate young leaders.
“HBS has left me with a much fuller sense of my own strengths and my own shortcomings,” said Barcott, a recipient of three fellowships who spent spring break working in Kibera. Speaking for his fellow students, Barcott pledged to pay back donors in “service and deeds,” and he offered a toast to those who had invested in their future.
Earlier in the day, about 100 fellowship supporters participated in an information session on MBA admissions, financial aid, and career services. Throughout, the role of fellowships was a central theme. Fellowship support has grown steadily over the last decade, enabling the School to attract diverse students of all backgrounds. Today, almost half of MBA students receive fellowship aid, which covers 46 percent of their tuition.
In closing remarks, Dean Jay Light discussed the importance of gifts for fellowships, particularly during the current economic downturn. He pledged to maintain the fellowship program at the 2008 level despite lower investment returns from the endowed funds that support the fellowships. “Now more than ever,” Light told the donors, “we are grateful for your support.”
