Help Fund a Creative Writing Scholarship

My name is Ana Christaldi and I am currently a Creative Writing student at Fairleigh Dickinson University's Florham campus. I am the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of the Cygnus Creative Writing Club and Literary Magazine at FDU and I am a graduating senior this year (Spring 2025). Recently, FDU has made the decision to cut the Creative Writing major, as well as several other programs. I am disheartened, and angered, by this choice. Instead of awarding the scholarship to an incoming student, as there will no longer be any incoming Creative Writing students, this scholarship will go to a currently enrolled Creative Writing Major at FDU. These students are in a tough position in which they may be forced to take classes over the summer and the winter sessions (which do not have financial aid coverage) in order to finish their degree before FDU officially ends the program. My goal is to establish this scholarship in time for the Fall 2025 semester and to hopefully, through Cygnus, continue to raise money for this cause yearly.

My college journey was one full of financial hardships and I could not be where I am today without the generous scholarships and grants awarded to me. It is my strong desire to give other students the same opportunities that I was lucky enough to receive. Creative Writing is often an underappreciated and uncommon major. In a climate where the Arts find themselves underfunded and neglected, now more than ever, I feel it is extremely important to contribute to their upkeep. I hope to provide some passionate writers with the chance to explore their dreams and connect with their careers.

Please consider donating to this cause in order to ease the gap between financially struggling individuals and education and to support the Arts in this difficult time.

Thank you!