Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 19, 2007|Volume 36, Number 7

Gifts to provide financial aid
at Yale Divinity School

Yale Divinity School (YDS) received two grants in support of financial aid totaling $1.5 million — one in honor of the Reverend Sidney Lovett, a former Yale chaplain, and the other a challenge grant that will provide matching funds for endowed scholarships.

The grants, made possible through the generosity of two Yale alumni who wish to remain anonymous, provide significant momentum for the school’s ultimate goal of making a YDS education tuition-free for all, says YDS Dean Harold Attridge.

In announcing creation of the $1 million Sidney Lovett ?Scholarship Fund, Attridge said, “The extraordinary generosity of these donors will have an immediate impact on students by establishing an endowment that will provide the equivalent of at least two full-tuition scholarships annually.”

Lovett, who died in 1979, was chaplain at Yale from 1932 to 1958. Known among students as “Uncle Sid,” Lovett also taught biblical literature and was master of Pierson College. A pacifist, he was active in social concerns for peace and, during World War II, served as president of the World Student Service Fund. In retirement, he was executive director of Yale/China in Hong Kong. In honoring Lovett’s memory, former Yale President A. Bartlett Giamatti once said, “Sid Lovett embodied all that Yale stands for and wants to be. Perhaps no Yale person in this century touched as many lives in this community and beyond.”

The $500,000 challenge grant, to be known as the Divinity School Challenge, will provide matching funds for endowed scholarships at the school. Under the grant, contributions from alumni and friends to YDS in the $10,000 to $100,000 range will be matched on a one-to-one basis.

Attridge expressed confidence that the challenge grant will serve as an incentive for alumni to give to YDS, since the value of their gifts can be doubled through the match.

At present, YDS provides scholarship money to cover approximately 65% of total tuition costs for each student, on average. The two grants will significantly enhance the Divinity School’s ability to enroll talented and dedicated students, says Attridge.

Attridge announced the grants on Oct. 9 at the conclusion of his annual “State of the School” address during the YDS Convocation and Reunions. That day also marked the launch of the YDS Gift of a Lifetime planned giving initiative. Planned gifts, which involve bequests, trusts and life income agreements, are also eligible for a match under the challenge grant, but those gifts must be $25,000 or higher to qualify.

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