Scholarship for Parenting Students

Hello!

My name is Noah, and Sydney and I are students at the University of Michigan. We started this page because we’re part of a student organization that runs the only scholarship for pregnant and parenting students on campus. Each year we raise $1,500 to distribute to a parenting student in need. After looking around this year, we believe we can do so much more - so we decided to aim higher. We’re starting an endowment fund with a goal of $50,000 - so that the money we raise today will be able to give to students in need for years to come.

We know that very often people end up getting abortions because of financial pressures – not because they actually want one. While we are a pro-life group, we genuinely believe that this scholarship, which is key to our club's mission, is something that everyone can get behind, regardless of your feelings on the issue, or how strong those feelings are. If you're pro life, what better way to demonstrate that than supporting the women who have chosen life for their children. And if you're pro-choice, what better way to allow women genuine choice than to support the choice for life when the woman makes it.

Regardless of your affiliation, we believe that the ultimate way to reach students, connect people, and change hearts and minds in today’s polarized world is to show people that we care about women and their children, and that if they’ve made the courageous and difficult decision to choose life, that we will do everything in our power to support that choice.

So yes, it’s ambitious. We have a three year schedule to raise that money, but we want to start off strong with half of that amount - $25,000 of that $50k - raised this year. We hope that you will join us in our effort to financially support a student each year so she can continue to get a quality education while being a parent for her child. Whether it's $25, $50, or $1,000, whatever you're able to give makes a difference - and sharing this post after you do so makes an even bigger difference.

Thank you so much for your support.

Cordially,

Sydney Wills, Fundraising Coordinator

Noah Mead-O’Brien, Vice President

Protect Life at the University of Michigan

Don’t know what an endowment fund is? That’s okay, we didn’t all know either. We had a savvy business student on our hands who knew what was going on and introduced us to the idea, and after talking with some nonprofits we trust, we were quickly convinced that this is a great idea - and we wish we’d thought of it sooner. Here’s how it works: We raise money through generous sponsors and donors like you, and then that money gets taken care of by a designated caretaker. (In many cases, it goes directly from you to them, so we never even touch the money.) In our case, that caretaker is the Catholic Foundation of Michigan so that we know the money will be invested ethically. Because the money is in good hands, we can say with confidence that the money will grow each year. Even if the stock market goes down in a given year, enough will be saved that the value of the fund goes up over time. Part of that growth gets taken out in the form of an annual scholarship, and the rest gets reinvested so the fund (and the scholarship amount that can be withdrawn) grows each year, making a difference for years to come.

Do you really run the only scholarship for pregnant and parenting students at the University of Michigan? Not only do we run the only pregnant and parenting scholarship, but the university actually does very little to provide resources for pregnant and parenting students. (Don’t believe us? That’s fine – just head over to the university page here to see for yourself. All they have to offer is an email you can reach out to and ask for help. Best wishes if you have to use it. https://deanofstudents.umich.edu/article/students-who-are-pregnant-or-parenting)

How will the scholarship funds be distributed to recipients? We're so glad you asked. Every year, we cast a wide net looking for potential scholarship recipients. From encouraging friends and classmates to apply, to advertising our scholarship across campus when the application is open each fall, we do our best to make sure that everyone and their daughter knows about the scholarship and knows that they're welcome to apply. We then sort through the applications and choose a scholarship recipient based on a variety of factors, with emphasis on financial need and the difference the scholarship will make in the woman's life. And yes, in case you're wondering, we believe our scholarship recipients have been pro-life and pro-choice. Not that we usually ask.

Still have questions? We'd love to hear from you! Just select the Contact button in the fundraising team information and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

Photo by Arina Krasnikova