PRIORITY TWO

President Clark has made it his personal and professional mission to expand scholarship opportunities at Bridgewater. Generous philanthropic contributions in recent years have helped to ensure that the vast majority of students with the highest need are able to attend Bridgewater for free. “For that next higher income band, there’s still substantial need, but less support through traditional financial programs. As a result, many of these students have no choice but to take out loans.”

For this reason, expanding merit scholarships has emerged as a critical priority for President Clark. “We can make Bridgewater more accessible and remain a competitive option for students,” he explains. “There are exceptional students who aren’t considering Bridgewater because they can find greater merit scholarship opportunities elsewhere. We need to change that.”

As the child of immigrants from Vietnam and a first-generation college student, Cindy Dang, ’24, turned to donor-funded merit scholarships to support her Bridgewater education. “My scholarship helped me focus more on my academics,” she says. “I didn’t have to work as much, which meant I could maintain my course load and keep focused on my studies.”

“I’m incredibly grateful to have received these scholarships,” says Gabriella Riveira, ’22, who has begun her teaching career. “It’s a vote of confidence. By supporting me through this scholarship, donors are saying that they recognize my potential, and they think I can make an impact after I graduate. That has meant the world to me.”

For aviation science major Andrew Estus, ’23, receiving the Bartlett Scholarship has opened a range of opportunities after graduation. “This scholarship has really helped me financially, because I have less student loan debt to pay off,” he says. “I can really focus on my career aspirations instead of worrying so much about money. I can’t say enough how thankful I am.”

“I see myself and my family members in our students,” reflects President Clark. “I feel very privileged to have been able to attend Bridgewater. But the state and federal funding that made it possible for me to come here is no longer the largest part of the equation. For those of us who had the opportunity to come to Bridgewater years ago, the best way to open doors of opportunity for today’s students is by supporting merit scholarships.”

Lauren Folloni, ’05, and her team work to cultivate a relationship with each student who enters their office to better understand their unique needs. “The students are the experts in themselves,” says Lauren. “No matter how much I know about my job, I’ll never understand a particular student’s needs better than they do.” Predictive analytics play a greater and greater role in the AAC’s services, enabling Lauren and her staff to proactively identify students who may benefit from support based on their background. For each student, a cross-divisional team is assembled to provide wraparound services for issues ranging from tutoring and academic advising to concerns about housing, food insecurity, and financial assistance.

While full-time staff play a major role in this approach, peer-to-peer relationships form a critical component of the AAC’s services. “I can relate to other students on a different level,” says Autumn Hutchins, ‘25, who both serves as a peer mentor and receives tutoring through the AAC. Autumn is looking forward to drawing on her experience supporting her peers in her future career as a speech pathologist. “It’s so amazing to be able to help students who are just like me. The more students I work with, the more I learn different ways of helping those individuals.”

Autumn is one of many students who have both provided and received support from the AAC. “The AAC has really allowed me to find success in areas where I may not be as confident,” explains Emily Fournier, ‘23. “...My work as a tutor has allowed me to develop my skills while helping others.”

Lauren sees significant opportunities for growth and expansion at the AAC, allowing the team to further destigmatize the services they provide. “We want to create a culture of accessibility across the entire campus,” she says. “With support from the Without Exception campaign, we can grow our ranks, create more programming outside of our physical office, and integrate our services more completely into every aspect of the student experience.”