The Robert & Ruby Priddy Charitable Trust has granted Colorado College $7.9 million over the next eight years to strengthen this leading liberal arts and sciences institution.
"Our highest priority at Colorado College is student success," said President Richard Celeste. "The Priddys' generous philanthropy will go a long way in helping us strengthen programs for prospective and current college students. Our aim, with this Priddy Trust boost, is to recruit the very best students from Colorado and the Southwest, and to give them the learning experiences and support they need not simply to graduate but also to become community leaders and productive world citizens."
"The Priddy grant is tremendous recognition of the standing of Colorado College as an innovative liberal arts and sciences college that puts student learning in and out of the classroom at the heart of its mission," Celeste added.
A major portion of the Priddy Trust grant is in the form of a challenge to Colorado College. The trust will provide $3 million in endowment funds for financial aid for middle-income students if the college can raise $9 million in matching funds by July 2008. This program will provide $12,500 in aid per student, per year for those families who face the challenge of not having large personal incomes or qualifying for substantial amounts of financial aid.
This challenge received its first major boost soon after it was announced this fall. An anonymous college trustee and past parent has given a $600,000 gift that will match the Priddy challenge. The gift is in honor of former college president Kathryn Mohrman and those who receive scholarships through it will be known as Mohrman Scholars.
The funds from the Priddy Trust will underpin student success by providing additional scholarships, outreach and student recruitment in the Southwest region, enrichment of student orientation and advising programs, and a new bridge program for students transitioning from high school to college. The Priddy gift also provides a challenge grant for the college to raise additional funds for endowed scholarships aimed at deserving students from middle-income families.
Colorado College is one of six independent liberal arts and sciences colleges located in the Southwest to receive grants from the Robert & Ruby Priddy Charitable Trust, based in Wichita Falls, Texas. Robert Priddy and Alan Clark co-founded the Dual Drilling Company in 1951. The company, a land and offshore drilling operation, was later acquired by the Bechtel Group.
The gift to CC is among the largest in the college's history, exceeded only by a $12 million contribution from Hewlett-Packard co-founder David Packard in 1971.
"We are going to have a substantial challenge ahead of us," said Don Wilson, vice president for alumni, development, and college relations. "It is not a cakewalk to raise $9 million in four years for financial aid. This generous gift to establish the Mohrman Scholars, however, gets us off to a running start and is a good indication of the importance that our alumni and friends put on financial aid."
Founded in 1874, Colorado College enrolls just over 1,900 undergraduates and is recognized for utilizing its unique location and flexible schedule -- the innovative Block Plan -- for hands-on learning, small seminar-style courses from the first year on, and exceptional field-study opportunities. More information about the funded programs and the college is available at www.ColoradoCollege.edu
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