Thank you once again for making a gift to the Tufts Alumni Association First Gen Scholarship last year.  Hopefully you had a chance to watch the video from Farley Flores, A18, and learn more about the impact of your gift.

The project was so successful that we’re doing it again!  We want to be sure Tufts is accessible to the brightest students from all backgrounds, and your gift helps make that possible.

Please help us inspire 250 Tufts alumni to make a gift - once we hit that goal, the Tufts Alumni Council will contribute $5,000 to the 2018-19 scholarship. We want to award another scholarship to a deserving student in the fall and need your help.

There are two ways to make a difference:  

1. Make a gift to this year’s crowdfunding effort  (https://crowdfund.tufts.edu/project/10565). It’s all about participation. And a Jumbo thank you if you already gave this year!
2. Spread the word!  You can share directly from the project page or use these email and social media templates. 

Thank you!  The project runs through June 30 and your support is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!  Your gift to the Tufts University Alumni Association’s First Gen Scholarship last year helped to raise $15,000 for a one-year scholarship from 229 donors, including a $5,000 matching gift from the Alumni Council.

We are so excited to share that the inaugural scholarship was awarded to Farley Flores, A18, who grew up in Mexico and Honduras and lived in California prior to coming to Tufts.  As a student at Tufts, he worked with the Institute for Global Leadership in Nicaragua, interned in the admissions office, played soccer,  helped start a nursing school in South America and plans to one day run a non-profit working with developing countries (to name just a few of his accomplishments!).  But, it’s best to hear directly from him.  Please take 2 minutes to watch the video!

Your participation in this crowdfunding campaign shows what is possible when Jumbos across the globe come together around a shared vision and how that vision can become a reality when we all do what we can.

Thank you again for your support and we’ll be launching a new crowdfunding project for this initiative starting in just a few days.  Go ‘Bos!

WOW! Thanks to you, we were able to officially establish a one-year scholarship for a first-generation college student at Tufts. A total of 223 donors generously gave a combined $10,217 and activated an additional $5,000 gift from the Alumni Council, the elected leaders of TuftsAlumni. Your participation in this crowdfunding campaign shows what is possible when Jumbos across the globe come together around a shared vision, and how that vision can become a reality when we all do what we can. This scholarship will hopefully become an annual effort.  We will make sure to share the recipient's story this winter!

Your support of this campaign more broadly supported Tufts in 2016-17, as we raised more than $144 million from generous donors like yourselves, including 13,000 undergraduate alumni. We are certainly strong together, and continue to build our community through gifts like yours.

Thank you again for your support; it truly means a lot.

Thank you! In just 8 days we reached our goal of 200 donors, creating a new scholarship that will be awarded next year to a first-generation undergraduate student. Your generosity made this possible!  All the money we’ve raised so far will go directly to a first-generation student with financial need, but we’re not done yet!

We have 3 days left and we’re going to keep going! Thanks to a generous challenge from the Alumni Council, for every additional 50 donors we secure, the council will give an additional $1,000 in scholarship money, all the way up to $10,000 in total. This will allow the Tufts Alumni First Gen Scholarship recipient to focus on all that Tufts has to offer without the constraints of financial need.

As always, every gift is Jumbo; together, we can unlock $1,000 with every 50 donors from the Tufts Alumni Council! Thank you for giving and please share this message with three Tufts classmates!

My name is Costa Nicolaou, and I am a forever Jumbo. I represent the first generation in my family to attend a US undergraduate institution. While at Tufts, I completed a double major, ran track, participated in student senate, chaired the board of Tufts Student Resources, was a student rep to the Board of Trustees, and worked 3 jobs equating to 30+ hours a week. By immersing myself so fully in everything that Tufts had to offer, I learned to be a citizen of the world, for the world. Yet it was financial aid and scholarships like this one that my family received from generous donors that made it all possible. Today, I lead a company responsible for the structures that secure over 3.5 million solar panels on commercial flat roofs around the world. I hope you will join me in helping to make the Tufts experience possible for future first generation students. This cause is near and dear to my heart. Please make a gift, call a few friends, because every give is Jumbo! Pax et Lux

Let's continue the momentum!! What a great showing of support in just 2 days. Beth M., Class of 2011, was so inspired by the Tufts Alumni Association First Gen Scholarship project, that she graciously shared her story about being a first generation college student.

"Whenever I complained about homework as a child, my dad, who emigrated from Ethiopia and sacrificed so much, always said, "People can take many things from you, but they can never take what's in here," as he pointed to his temples with both index fingers. My parents moved to the U.S. to escape the revolution in Ethiopia.

I was born and raised in Oakland, California, with parents who dedicated their lives to making sure my brother and I received the best education possible. As a part of that journey, I received a generous amount of financial aid when I was accepted to Tufts University. My experience at Tufts was a formative one. It was the first time I was away from my family for more than week. It was where I learned more about the world around me and was surrounded by students who wanted to do the same. It was where I learned to embrace my bicultural experience as an Ethiopian-American. It was where I grieved following my father's sudden passing during the winter break of my sophomore year. Through everything, Tufts not only provided me with the education I yearned for, but also provided the friendship and guidance I needed.

My parents always worked hard. My father, for example, worked his way up in an entry level position at The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco without a college degree. Working hard is in my nature, but it was not enough. I needed help, I needed mentors, and I needed opportunities to reach new heights. Thanks to the generous aid I received from Tufts, I graduated to work as a paralegal, a consultant at a top firm, and most recently graduated from The University of Chicago Law School, one of the top law schools in the country. I am currently working in the DC office of NY-based law firm, Paul, Weiss."

Know that your support has a lifelong impact on students like Beth and Erick.  Thank you for giving to ensure these opportunities will continue.  Please share this project with your classmates as we strive for 200 donors – we’re already halfway to goal!

And a Jumbo thank you to Beth for sharing her inspirational story!