At the annual Mount David Society Scholarship Luncheon on April 3, 2015, President Clayton Spencer, men’s basketball head coach Jon Furbush ’05, Alexandra Morrow ’16 and Tiago Correia ’17 joined in sharing a message of gratitude with the gathering of donors whose philanthropy helps to fund the college’s $33 million in scholarship aid awarded to students each year.

President Spencer began the program by thanking the financial aid donors present and underscoring the importance of philanthropy in creating an educational environment that promotes opportunity and excellence.

“You make the Bates experience possible, not only for the financial aid students you support, but for all students,” she said. “Because if we weren’t committed to bringing in a broad range of students, everybody’s education would suffer. This is absolutely critical to who we are as Bates College.”

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Furbush recounted how as a student he may have taken financial aid “for granted.” Now, he says, he realizes “how much work and support goes into making Bates financially feasible for all admitted students and their families.”

In a moving speech, Morrow, a history and interdisciplinary studies major from Lebanon, Maine, cited the developmentally critical events of her Bates career: taking a formative first-year course, “Exploring Education through Narratives,” which involved volunteering for 30 hours in Lewiston schools; applying to become a Bonner Leader; teaching a class at Lewiston Middle School during the 21st Century Afterschool Program; spending a semester abroad in Kathmandu, Nepal; and designing her own major with close support from Emily Kane, professor of sociology and women and gender studies; Mara Tieken, assistant professor of education; and Sue Houchins, associate professor of American Cultural Studies.

“The support of the Bates community and the generous financial support many of you have offered has not only impacted my own life, but also the lives of people beyond campus,” she said.

Correia, of Lisbon, Portugal, cited similar transformative experiences at Bates: tutoring at the Mathematics and Statistics Workshop, serving as an Orientation Week Leader, receiving a Hoffman Fellowship to support summer research at the University of Heidelberg in Germany, and working alongside Nathan Lundblad, assistant professor of physics, in his laboratory for ultracold atomic physics.

“My presence here today has been made possible because of you,” Correia said. “With your contributions to this college you allow for students like me to maximize their potential and become members of this great family that is Bates. You make the Bates family a radiant and striving community and for that I am grateful.”

In closing, Morrow thanked donors “for standing with us, for standing for us, and for being here today. You provide us with the opportunity to follow our passions and to do so with purpose, and that purpose will resonate throughout the world for generations to come.”