UNH and Dartmouth Consider Ways to Aid Children of Attack Victims
WASHINGTON – As efforts to provide educational scholarship aid for the children of the victims of last month’s terrorist attacks begin to gather momentum nationally, the University of New Hampshire and Dartmouth College are considering if and how they will provide aid to these family members.
A week ago, former President Bill Clinton and former Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole announced their joint chairmanship of the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund, a program that will give educational assistance to the children of those killed or disabled in the Sept.11 attacks.
Some colleges and universities have already donated money to the fund. Harvard University, for example, has given $1 million, but UNH and Dartmouth are still considering several options and looking at the details before making their decisions.
“The university typically awards need-based financial aid based on information we’ve received through the free application for federal student aid,” said Mark Rubinstein, vice provost for enrollment at the University of New Hampshire.
Rubinstein said the university admissions and financial aid offices look at each student’s need individually. If a student has financial need because of a loss suffered in the attacks, the university, he said, will be “sensitive to the needs of that student.” But the university, he added, might not necessarily set up or donate to a scholarship for the victims’ children.
Laurel Stavis, director of public affairs at Dartmouth College, said the college is looking at a wide array of options and has not chosen a means of aiding the victims’ children. “We’re considering a number of options, including scholarships,” Stavis said. “We have not worked out the details.”
Clinton and Dole held a news conference at Georgetown University on Saturday to announce their joint chairmanship of the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund.
The fund, established by the Citizens’ Scholarship of America (CSFA) and the Lumina Foundation for Education, hopes to collect at least $100 million for the children of the victims to use at all levels of post-secondary education, and will continue for as long as these families need educational assistance.
“It seems to me this can be a living memorial,” Dole said. “By this effort, these young people 10-15 years from now will understand that somebody in America cared enough to make it possible for them to pursue their dreams.”
The fund was started two weeks ago and will be run by the CSFA, the nation’s largest non-profit private-sector scholarship and educational support organization.
Clinton said he had agreed to head the Fund with Dole, his former political rival, because it will help ease the pain of those affected not only today but also decades from now.
“One of the problems with even tragedy of this breathtaking magnitude is that as it fades and we return to normal life,” Clinton said,. “the long term needs can be forgotten. And there is no more important long-term need than to see that the children who are affected by this tragedy, when they come of age, will have an opportunity to have an education.This is something the American people can do that will really have a profound long-term effect on the children’s lives and an immediate and psychological effect on the families that are feeling bereft.”
Dole said his joining with Clinton in chairing the Fund has no political meaning. “There’s not any politics or partisanship in an effort like this,” he said. “We’re both Americans, we both love our country and we would like to do something in a positive way, and I think the Families of Freedom Scholarship Fund is a step in the right direction.”
Clinton said the fund also would encourage the victims’ children to do something for their country in the wake of the tragedy that took their parents.
“Our work will probably not be completed for over 20 years,” Clinton said. “This is a gift that will be giving for quite a long while. I predict there will be at least a dozen children who are victims of this crisis that within 25 years will make a major contribution to the public life of America because they lost their father or their mother.”
Dole said the fund is similar to the government assistance World War II veterans received to help them achieve some footing in the aftermath of the war.
“It’s reminiscent in a way for those of us who are veterans of World War II who didn’t have any money, and they came along with the G.I. Bill of Rights,” Dole said. “These are going to be outstanding young men and women, and hopefully whoever makes a contribution will keep that in mind and keep on giving till it hurts. And in this case, I don’t think it’ll hurt.”
Several organizations have already donated to jump-start the Fund. The Lumina Foundation has given $3 million, and TMP Worldwide, an Internet-based marketing company, has contributed $1 million.
Anyone can donate to the Fund, and any amount will be accepted, said CSFA president William Nelson.
To donate, log onto www.familiesoffreedom.org or call 1-800-335-1102.
