The gift of a Kellogg education

10/7/2010 - Of the nine business schools Matthew Farver '12 considered attending, Kellogg was without a doubt his top choice. What was in doubt was how to pay for it.

“I looked pretty widely at different options, and I just knew in my gut that Kellogg was the right fit for me,” he said. “I was trying to decide whether to go somewhere where it was easier financially or to come here.

“When [Kellogg] called me and offered me a scholarship opportunity, I could stop thinking about the power of the dollar on my decision and know that not only was I going to be financially supported here, but that I was going to be at the place that was really in essence the right place for me.”

Farver is a recipient of the Sati and Sugnomal Hirani Family Scholarship. He was among 160 fellow Kellogg scholarship recipients attending a celebratory luncheon in their honor Sept. 29.

“When we meet with donors, we tell them that we get to recruit the most highly sought-after students in the world,” Alice Barda, senior director of development and corporate relations, told the luncheon attendees. “You are our inspiration. It is all of you who remind us why our work is so important. It is your stories, hopes and plans for the future that motivate donors to make scholarship gifts.

Barda noted that many of the alumni donors had at one time been scholarship recipients themselves. She urged the students to remember the helping hand they had received as they pursue their careers.

“Giving something each year over time leads to a more meaningful alumni experience,” she said. “And when you reach a high level of success in your career, consider a transformative gift to Kellogg that will change someone’s life the way your life was changed.”

Tyler Palmer '12, recipient of the Robert Moe Scholarship, said he’d like to extend that helping hand to Kellogg students in the future.

“I thought it was great that someone would want to help sponsor someone to get the kind of experience that he or she got,” he said. “It makes me want to consider doing the same thing myself some day.”

Meghan Taylor '12 said the news that she had received a Forté Foundation/Kellogg Scholarship had been unexpected, but very welcome.

“It was surprising because I hadn’t applied for anything specifically, so it was really exciting to find out about it,” she said. “It definitely took a little of the burden off, which is nice.”