We kick off a funding campaign to secure the College’s future and fulfill her mission to provide a first-class education to generations in perpetuity.

In 1869, Wilson College rose as a beacon of quality education and hope from the literal ashes of the Rosedale Seminary and Col. A.K. McClure’s Norland estate, both burned to the ground during the Civil War. The College came into being thanks to a donation from an enigmatic, deeply religious, and formally uneducated woman, Sarah Wilson. Her donation of $30,000 (approximately $500,000 today) secured the McClure property and encouraged others to invest in the ambitious project to educate future generations. Her simple act of generosity and foresight has changed the lives of students and their families for over a century and a half.

In this special issue of Wilson Magazine, we celebrate and pay tribute to the many current donors, the modern-day Sarah Wilsons, who make the College a vibrant and relevant institution in the lives of thousands today. You will also meet some of the students who have benefitted directly from our alumnae, alumni, and friends’ philanthropy. And, we invite you to participate in the We Rise: United for Wilson’s Future campaign and help make a Wilson education accessible to generations of students to come.

Wilson’s history, from her inception, has always been one of innovation and adaptability. The Rev. Dr. Tyron Edwards, one of the two Presbyterian ministers who founded the College, originally intended to simply replace the burned-down Rosedale Seminary (an institution that prepared young women to teach). However, when Edwards approached the Rev. James Wightman, the second of the College’s founders, the latter insisted on creating “a first-class college, affording to young women facilities for a first-class education such as now afforded by first-class colleges to men.” Thus, the College’s mission to look to the future to best serve her students and provide them with a first-class education was woven into her fabric from the beginning.

Wilson is proud of her history and how her past informs her present, and her present builds her future. The College continues to burn with a bold passion for providing a first-class education and fostering a community of learners who will go on to be first-class leaders, innovators, creators, and citizens. Throughout her history, this small but mighty college has faced internal and external challenges and, on every occasion, has evolved to meet the students’ needs without ever losing sight of her mission to educate and empower.

Today, as we emerge from a global pandemic, the College, with your help, will rise once more and educate generations to come the Wilson way. The pandemic has changed the world. Work practices and education modalities have had to adapt to a new reality. “Zoom” has become a household word, and entire industries have been upended while others have soared. For institutions of higher education, the last few years have presented particular difficulties. Many have suffered enrollment setbacks with ensuing financial losses, and in a tight employment market, many potential students have even questioned the value of a degree. These, combined with a demographic “cliff face,” where the number of college-age young people will decrease dramatically over the next few years, means colleges and universities will have to overcome multiple and disparate challenges at once.

Luckily, Wilson acted early and decisively to analyze and address these issues and find solutions. Our five-year strategic plan, Future Wilson: The Phoenix Rises: 2021 to 2025, maps the road to a stable and secure future for the College. It identifies remedies for challenges, such as a significant debt load, an endowment limited in growth due to high spending, the deferred maintenance of buildings and grounds, and the compensation of faculty and staff. The plan was developed under the leadership of Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D., the College’s 20th president, and you can download it on the president’s page at wilson.edu/president.

Just as the two founding ministers needed donors to make their dream of a first-class college come to fruition, we need your help to make the strategic plan fulfill its potential. You, too, can take a leaf from Sarah Wilson’s book and help perpetuate the original vision for a first-class college that empowers students for generations to come.

The We Rise: United for Wilson’s Future campaign is the vehicle for funding the strategic plan and securing the College’s future. It breaks the funding into five crucial pillars (listed on the following pages), each one vital to the overall success of the plan. And we’ve gotten off to the best possible start with an anonymous donor funding the Debt Reduction Fund’s goal of $2 million, in its entirety.

TOTAL WE RISE CAMPAIGN GOAL $16 million

CAMPAIGN PRIORITIES

Scholarships GOAL: $4.5 MILLION

The focus on scholarships embodies Wilson’s commitment to providing access to an affordable, quality education to all students. While Wilson has taken strategic steps to maintain a competitive tuition rate, the availability of state and federal financial aid has not kept pace with the cost of attaining a higher education degree. To that end, the We Rise campaign seeks $4.5 million in scholarships for student support.

Growth Initiatives GOAL $2 MILLION

The We Rise campaign seeks $2 million to support future academic and co-curricular programming aimed at expanding Wilson College’s offer- ings to ensure we meet the academic requirements and personal needs of current and future generations of students. To sustain its mission, the College must strengthen and expand its footprint in the online higher education space, explore new degree offerings to meet the needs of the future workforce, provide engaging co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities, and increase student retention.

Faculty & Staff Support GOAL: $1.5 MILLION

Recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty and staff and then ensuring that they have access to the technology, resources, and facilities required to deliver a quality Wilson education to today’s students and future Phoenix is the focus of this funding area. Whether it is updating technology in classrooms, caring for our buildings and grounds, or simply helping to offset the significant cost of benefits for our employees, faculty and staff support is an important part of the We Rise campaign. To that end, the Campaign seeks $1.5 million in support of faculty and staff initiatives.

Debt Reduction Fund GOAL: $2 MILLION

Over time, Wilson College has amassed a significant debt load due to various capital projects. Institutional debt totaling almost $35 million is much too high for a college of our size to carry successfully. Additionally, the debt requires meeting challenging covenants, further limiting the institution. Thus, the We Rise campaign seeks $2 million towards the retirement ACHIEVED of institutional debt.

Wilson Fund & Unrestricted Giving GOAL: $6 MILLION

The Wilson Fund, the College’s annual fund, has long been the place where alumnae, alumni, parents, friends, and students demonstrate their commitment and support of the institution through their yearly gifts. The We Rise campaign includes a $3 million goal for the Wilson Fund as well as a $3 million goal for other unrestricted giving.

We Rise Campaign Leadership

Honorary Co-Chairs
Marguerite Brooks Lenfest ’55
Susan Breakefield Fulton ’61

Co-Chairs
Margaret Hamilton Duprey
Lisbeth S. Luka ’69, M.Ed.

Vice-Chair
Robin J. Bernstein, Esq.

Campaign Committee
Jennifer Nickle Banzhof ’94
Cynthia Dimmick Grove ’63
Jane Everhart Murray ’67
James A. Orsini, D.V.M.
Julia Solleveld Osborne ’64
Gail E. Saxton ’81
Barbara L. Tenney ’67, M.D.
Betty Lou Leedom Thompson ’60
Janelle S. Wills ’14, V.M.D.

Presidents Emeriti Honorary Members
Mary-Linda Sorber Merriam Armacost, Ph.D.
Lorna Duphiney Edmundson, Ed.D.
Gwendolyn Evans Jensen, Ph.D.
Barbara K. Mistick, D.M

Student recruitment and retention requires investment.

Wilson College is not just a collection of pretty buildings and facilities in Chambersburg, Pa. She is a living entity that evolves with the times while maintaining her original mission, principles, and morals. She is the ideal of an egalitarian liberal arts education embodied through her people — the students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

While the entire community represents the College, the students are the heart of Wilson. It is their energy and enthusiasm that propel the institution forward and keep the College alive. Recruiting and retaining students is therefore central to the health and longevity of Wilson and the perpetuation of her mission to provide a unique, broad, rigorous, and personal education.

The growth initiatives pillar of the We Rise campaign aims to provide the financial resources needed to recruit and retain a healthy student body. Meeting students’ needs is complex. It includes everything from the degrees relevant to today’s workplace, to the athletic teams and recreational opportunities students desire, to the learning modalities and technologies that prepare students for the future

Students share insights into how scholarships and financial aid have made their goals attainable.

Wilson’s 153rd Annual Commencement took place over the pleasantly mild weekend of May 13 and 14. Under the dappled sunlight on Main Green, families and friends watched their loved ones cross the stage and receive their diplomas from President Wes Fugate. Seeing the proud graduates and their even prouder parents, families, and friends celebrating their success and looking to a future of possibilities, you are struck by how transformative Wilson College has been in the lives of so many.

This year we honored 171 undergraduate students, 141 graduate students, and 110 students who completed their Pennsylvania teacher certification. The number of smiling and optimistic graduates who crossed that stage this year is thanks to the generous financial aid Wilson College awards to over 98% of her students.

Fugate reminded the audience of what a particularly inspiring group the class of 2023 was. They personified “perseverance, persistence, resiliency, and personal growth,” given the extraordinary challenges they faced during the pandemic and all the disruptions that wrought. “But you made it,” he reminded them, “I am so proud of you.”

Fugate also celebrated the contributions of the “village” – the families, friends, faculty, and staff — that had supported the students on their journey. To loud cheers, he singled out the contributions of all the mothers in the audience—a popular callout given it was Mother’s Day.

Class President

Class of 2023 President Anaida Fahradyan addressed the audience by quoting from the poet Vahan Tekeyan, from her home country of Armenia. “Rise up and raise others up with you,” the poet advised. To Fahradyan, this ideal of raising others exemplified the Wilson College experience. “Wilson’s Bogigian Scholarship, funded by generous donors, paid for my education here,” she said. “Others who were able to rise up and raise others – in this case, me – with them.”

She spoke of how thankful the class was for all the incredible opportunities and funding for tuition, internships, trips, and activities paid for by donors. “Breathe it in. Be grateful, and don’t forget to express your gratitude to them. They allowed us to rise up, and now it’s our turn to raise others up.” Appropriately, the Class of 2023 presented the College with a gift that will help raise up future students. “Through class fundraising efforts, I am pleased to announce that we will be joining those who raised us – the Wilson College Parents Council – and contrib-uting towards their efforts to refresh the Fitness Center. It’s our way of rising up to raise future Phoenix!”

Commencement Speaker

Fugate introduced commencement speaker the Honorable Elaine L. Chao, the longest-serving US Cabinet member since WWII, having served under two Presidents. She was conferred with the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.

Chao told the graduating class about her family, the sacrifices her parents made to come to Amer- ica when she was eight, and how she overcame difficulties and challenges “Whenever I was confronted with challenges in my career, I thought of my parents—what they went through and sacrificed. That gave me comfort and courage.” She explained that knowing “your story” and “knowing yourself” are key to figuring out your path in life. “Each of you has the potential to make a positive impact on the world. By knowing yourself, you can unlock that potential and achieve great things. Find your Bold!”

After the presentation of diplomas to the Class of 2023, Lynne DiStasio ’74, president of the AAWC, congratulated the class and invited them to join the AAWC.

The Graduate commencement ceremony in the afternoon was addressed by Adam Kritzer ’23, BSN, RN, who was graduating with a master’s in nursing: education. Kritzer had intended to pursue a career in mechanical engineering. However, after being injured in a motorcycle accident, he was inspired by the care he received from a male nurse in the emergency room to become a nurse. He encouraged his fellow graduates to boldly pursue their dreams.

Student Profiles

The stories of the Class of 2023 and how they succeeded at Wilson are many, and each one is unique to the individuals and their families. Here and in two other stories later in this issue, we will profile some of this year’s graduates to give you a flavor of this class and what Wilson means to them. Each of the students featured received scholarships and financial aid, without which they could not have gone to college. With each profile, we only included the named scholarships as financial aid packages are complex, and funding can come from many sources, including federal and state loans. The three students featured here also received either President’s or Dean’s Merit Scholarships, which go toward tuition costs. The College is committed to keeping a Wilson education affordable so students like these can receive the sort of individualized and transformative education that has been the hallmark of this institution for over a century and a half.

Aura Langley ’23
Single Parent Scholar, Phoenix Leader, nursing major

Donor-Funded Scholarships:
Thomas & Kathleen Kimes ’52 Scholarship, Sylvia S. Davison & Mary M. Dee Scholarship, Patricia J. Reber ’60 scholarship, Class of 1968 Scholarship, Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Scholarship, Carol Tschop ’72 Nursing Scholarship, Helen Bell Cressey Ashley ’54 Scholarship

Aura Langley was raising her son James without a partner while attending community college. How- ever, she was ambitious and looking to transfer to a nursing degree program that she could afford. When she learned of the Single Parent Scholar (SPS) program at Wilson and the opportunity to pursue a bachelor’s degree while living on campus with her son, she jumped at the chance to come here.

Her love of nursing was inspired by the midwives she met during the birth of James, and her long- term goal is to become a midwife. “The whole experience of bringing life into the world is wonderful, and I want to help other people have a good experience giving birth,” she said.

“There’s a community of people who are in the same situation that you’re in,” she enthused about Wilson’s SPS program. “We’re in the same boat, and we want to be successful. So we help each other be successful. It really is just a huge family, and it’s wonderful.”

Langley’s economic situation meant that she would have had to work, raise her son, and go to school at the same time. “The nursing program is phenomenal,” she said, “but there’s no way I would have been able to do this without the donor’s support.” She wanted them to know how grateful she is and that their support “lifted” her and her family up. “I’m going to do something great with my degree.”

Geneva Dardick Robinette ’23
Veterinary nursing major

Donor-Funded Scholarship:
Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Scholarship

Geneva Robinette grew up outside of Harrisburg, Pa., and was looking for an excellent four-year veterinarian nursing program. The only other pro- gram she could find with an equivalent reputation to Wilson’s was in upstate New York. However, once she visited our campus and met the faculty and staff here, she knew she’d found her home and didn’t even apply to the other school. “I wanted an individual experience, and I wanted to be able to connect with people,” she said. “I knew I’d make better connections and stronger connec- tions at a school where I wasn’t just a number.”

And Wilson has lived up to her high expectations. In one of the most competitive and difficult graduate fields to break into, Robinette has been accepted into two of the four veterinary schools she applied to and has chosen to go to the Univer- sity of Florida. She chose U.F. because she wants to work with exotic animals, and the school has an affiliation with the Tampa Zoo, meaning students can do rotations working with zoo animals.

Robinette believes her liberal arts education helped with her applications to veterinarian schools. It made her a better writer and a more rounded person than someone who went to a science or tech college, and that set her apart. Besides, she enjoyed the liberal arts and became a bit of a history buff, studying social structures in America before the Civil War was of particular interest.

Because her family had some medical issues, Robinette was acutely conscious of the cost of education. Without the aid and scholarships she received, she may not have been able to go to college. “I definitely am grateful to the alumni donors,” she said. “I think it’s important to give for students who do struggle financially. Anything helps. Everything helps. And I think it’s a nice way to keep a connection with the school. It’s kind of like you pay for the person behind you in line, and then they pay for the person behind them.”

 
During the ceremony, the College honored two retiring Trustees, Robin Bernstein, Esq. and Dr. Barbara Tenney ’67, with their election to Trustees Emeriti for their combined 39 years of service to the College.

Wilson’s calendar does not begin on January 1 and end on December 31. Nor does it simply follow the academic calendar beginning with the first day of classes and ending with graduation ceremonies. For the Wilson community, the calendar starts with student move-in day and all the excitement and bustle that marks the reopening of the college. And it ends with Reunion and the return of our alumni, who come together to renew their friendships, share memories, and celebrate the College — a fitting send-off for the old year.

This year was no exception. The Class of ’73 and the Class of ’98 showed up in numbers to celebrate their 50th and 25th reunions, respectively. And we had alumni representing classes from 1952 all the way up to 2023. The alumna who traveled the furthest came from Ecuador!

Two Goods Do Make a Right

In his welcome speech, Wilson President Wes Fugate summarized the state of the college, joking that he might have titled his talk “the good, the bad, the ugly, and the good.” The first “good” included Wilson’s remarkable enrollment increases before the pandemic, which bucked the negative growth trend in many similar institutions. The “bad” referenced the pandemic’s negative financial and enrollment effects. And the “ugly” described the long-term repercussions of the lower enrollment combined with a looming “demographic cliff” (beginning in 2026, there will be 15% fewer students graduating from high schools due to the decreased birthrate during the great recession of 2008).

The second “good” is how the College has responded to “the bad and the ugly.” Wilson was proactive and addressed the challenges through Future Wilson: The Phoenix Rises – a five-year strategic plan that lays out a path to financial and academic security. Fugate touted the steps we have already taken towards fulfilling the plan — more graduate courses, new undergraduate programs, Wilson College Online, the success of our athletics teams, and the reimagined creative arts options, to list but a few of the recent gains.

He concluded his speech with the official launch of the We Rise campaign — a $16 million fundraising effort to help implement the strategic plan described in detail throughout this issue of the magazine. And although this was the official launch event, he announced that we had already raised $12 million in cash and pledges! Given the generosity of alumnae, alumni, and friends of the College, he had no doubt that we would meet the target and put Wilson on sound footing once again.

Fund the Fund

The cost of a higher education degree today is high and out of the reach of many. This is why Wilson has kept its tuition and board rates low and gives generous financial aid packages to deserving students. Robin Bernstein, Esq., vice- chair of the We Rise campaign, understands why a donor would want to fund scholarships and other forms of direct aid to students. But years on the Board of Trustees have taught her that the Wilson Fund and additional unrestricted funds are critical too.

Class of 1973 Reception in the John Stewart Memorial Library

“The Wilson Fund is important to me because it helps cover the operating expenses that get us through year to year. Every year has its own issues, especially on an old campus, and some- thing unexpected always comes up,” she said. “If you leave money in a restricted fund, which is fine, what was seen as the most important thing in 1909 when you died might have no relevance in 1929 or 2029! Unrestricted dollars, however, provide for things that you may not have even thought of existing.”

“Everything that goes to the annual fund is unrestricted,” she explained. “It’s not enough to carry the College, but it creates a safety buffer against the unexpected costs.”

Odds and Evens

The rivalry between the Odds and Evens is alive and well if the back-and-forth chanting at the Reunion lunch is anything to go by. This good-natured teasing is one of Wilson’s oldest traditions. But don’t let the rivalry fool you. When it comes to the College’s welfare, the Odds and Evens put aside their differences and unite to work together. That’s precisely how Cynthia Dimmick Grove ’63 and Julia Solleveld Osborne ’64, both We Rise Odds and Evens subcommittee members, approach raising unrestricted funds.

Cynthia Dimmick Grove ’63

“My class of 1964 will be looking at their 60th reunion next year,” Osborne said. “And I have been a fundraising cheerleader for 60 years!” She hopes to present the College with a bumper gift next year at Reunion. “I’ve been telling my classmates for years that they need to reflect on what Wilson did for them. And by helping Wilson now, they are passing that gift on. on.” The Class of 1964 has decided to create a “Class of ’64” scholarship. However, while this will be a named gift to honor the class and will be presented at Reunion next year, it will be given as part of the We Rise campaign. This means the College can award the funds to whoever needs them most on behalf of the class. In that sense, it is not like an endowment that is limited to spending funds in very specific ways.

Julia Solleveld Osborne ’64

Grove agrees that the College needs unrestricted funds. She reminds her classmates, “It’s not money wasted because there is the strategic plan, and it’s already working.” Grove’s motivation is simple: “Wilson College really helped to create the person that I think I am today,” she said. “It’s important to stay connected and be supportive of the place where you spent four important years of your life.”

Both women have been encouraged by the College’s administration under Fugate. In particular, they are impressed by how proactive the strategic plan is. “We’ve done an incredible job of keeping pace and even being head of the storm,” Grove said of the College’s preparations for the challenges ahead. “We have an ambitious strategic plan to help us to remain the cutting-edge institution that began 154 years ago thanks to the generosity of Sarah Wilson,” Fugate said at Reunion. “It remains the highest honor of my life to serve this remarkable College. I am humbled to walk alongside each of you as her president. Thank you for being here this weekend. Thank you for being loyal to your alma mater. And thank you for what you will do for her in these coming years.”

Embracing a Challenge

Robin Bernstein joined the Board of Trustees in 1996. She had known of Wilson since childhood (through a friend who lived in Chambersburg) and considered it “the little engine that could” because of how the school had scrapped her way back into existence and relevance after the near closing in 1979. She liked Wilson’s fighting spirit, knew many alumnae, and, she admitted, was a little jealous of the women who had come here.

At her first Trustee meeting, she was shocked to hear the head of physical property explain how he had saved money by soldering the front of one truck onto the rear of another to create a usable vehicle. “Then I remember going into the ladies’ room, and the plaster was falling off the ceiling,” she said. “I thought, what have I gotten myself into?”

Luckily, Bernstein likes a challenge. After the initial shock of the College’s finances, she rolled up her sleeves and joined the fight to put the College on a firmer financial footing. She served two terms on the board, including a three-year stint as chair, and retired on June 30, having served for a grand total of 18 years.

When she became chair, some alumnae questioned why a non-alumna would care so much about the College. Bernstein considered this a valid question and had to ask herself why she felt such a strong connection to Wilson and didn’t feel the same about her own alma mater.

Then she had an epiphany. “I realized that I love this place because it is very much like my prep school in Philadelphia, which was Quaker. There like here, the faculty mentored you, and you could go into the classroom after school and talk about anything with them.” Not only did this realization clarify why she felt so strongly toward the College, but it motivated her to put even more of her time and “treasure” into keeping Wilson a viable and relevant school. “There are very few institutions left where the students are supported the way they are here.”

2023 Reunion Awards

Attendance Awards

Silver Cup
Class with the greatest percentage of class members registered.
Class of 1973
25% in attendance

Reunion Bowl
Class with the largest number of class members registered.
Class of 1973
29 in attendance

Fundraising Awards

President’s Plaque
Class with the highest 5-year participation of giving to Wilson Fund.
Class of 1963
53% of participation

Silver Tray
Class with the highest 5-year total giving to the College.
Class of 1963
$694,140

Class Crystal
Class with the highest Wilson Fund giving for the current fiscal year.
Class of 1963
$27,970

50th Class Gift

The Class of 1973 celebrated their 50th reunion with a gift toward scholarships for female students as part of the We Rise Campaign.
Class of 1973
$73,000

Have you ever seen a rainbow appear after a summer storm and marveled at how such an awesome sight came out of the dark and dreary? That almost magical transformation is my heartfelt hope for Wilson’s post-pandemic future. So many of you got to enjoy Wilson prior to those dark years. I, unfortunately, got to experience only 77 days of Wilson before that significant trajectory-altering event. The days were long. The challenges were great. It was indeed dark and dreary.

And yet, “small, but mighty,” Wilson persevered. We developed a comprehensive strategic plan to guide us towards a Wilson that meets the modern needs of students and thrives into the future despite the anticipated rapid decline in the number of students seeking higher education. As we have implemented our plan, I am delighted to see a rainbow appear in the distance. Since our strategic planning process began, we have focused on growth, adding eight new majors and one new graduate program. We have improved retention through targeted initiatives, including re-envisioning how we advise students. We have enhanced co-curricular experiences by moving our hunt seat equestrian team to varsity status, adding a varsity western team, beginning
competitive eSports, and, this fall, we will introduce a show choir. In January of this year, our first students enrolled in the newly launched Wilson College Online programs aimed at providing an accessible Wilson education to primarily adult students. As a result of these initiatives, enrollment appears to have stabilized and is heading back up.

And we are not done yet; our next major step is to launch hybrid, accelerated programs in allied, graduate healthcare. We have begun the necessary accreditation processes for doctorates of occupational therapy and physical therapy and a master’s of speech language pathology.

January of 2028, we hope to have added these new in-demand programs to our degree offerings. Additionally, our strategic plan emphasizes keeping a Wilson education affordable. Thanks to the generosity of alumnae, alumni, and friends of the College and the scholarships and assistance they have funded, the average cost for a student to attend Wilson after all financial aid is the same as a student attending a nearby public university. In other words, at Wilson, you get the benefits of a private education at a public price. Our plan also seeks to better support the women and men who serve the College by giving them the tools and resources necessary to provide the transformative education for which Wilson is known.

And yet, we need your help to make our strategic plan successful. At Reunion, I formally announced the We Rise: United for Wilson’s Future campaign. With an overall goal of raising $16 million by June 30, 2025, this campaign seeks to provide the funding to enact our strategic priorities while combatting the challenges facing all of higher education. I am pleased to say, to date, we have already raised $12.1 million. This edition of the magazine illuminates the campaign’s priorities and details why we need you to support us. The pandemic has robbed us of so much, but we must not let it rob Wilson of her success and future. This may very well be the most difficult decade in the history of higher education, and Wilson is not immune to these challenges, but we have an aggressive plan to emerge on the other side as an even stronger institution.

I am asking you to consider making the most transformative gift you will ever make to Wilson College during the next two years. I would not ask you to do something I am not willing to do myself. Cody and I helped kick off the campaign with the largest philanthropic commitment we have ever made to any organization. We believe that much in Wilson. Will you unite with me as we seek to ensure that Wilson rises to the challenges before us? With your support, the turbulent storm of the past few years will fade into memory as the rainbow brightens Wilson’s horizons.

Wesley R. Fugate, Ph.D.