$10 Million Salem State University Gift To Create New Scholarship Fund

SALEM, MA — Salem State University will use an anonymous $10 million donation to create the "Clipper Scholarship" fund that will assist students in remaining in school when they have exhausted other state and federal support programs.

The record donation will support students in the Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services and the McKeown School of Education. It will go toward students who are just over the cusp of Pell Grant eligibility and "seeks to meet students where they are and helps fund the cost of attendance, which includes tuition, room and board, books and meal plans."

A university spokesperson told Patch that this is the third time Salem State has received a gift that has set or tied a record for the state university system.

"With our long history of preparing front-line workers who go on to serve the Commonwealth in healthcare, education and public service-related fields, a gift of this magnitude will help us maximize student potential by lessening their financial burden and helping them graduate on time," Sami Ansari PhD, dean of Salem State's Maguire Meservey College of Health and Human Services said. “I am grateful that the university will be able to provide more opportunities to our accomplished students who will one day contribute to the well-being of the public."

The university said the gift was made in honor of the donor's parents, who graduated from Salem State in the 1950s and is intended to assist the school to "do better as a society and help students with unmet need" as they are "the future of our country."

"Salem State's founding principle, seeing education as the great equalizer, is as important today as it's ever been," said Cheryl Webster, vice president of advancement and executive director of the Salem State University Alumni Association and Foundation, Inc.

SSU President John Keenan said the donation will augment the university's $75 million "Meet the Moment" campaign to support financial aid.

"Private philanthropy is critical to maintaining a rigorous, collaborative learning environment that encourages students to develop critical thinking skills so that they can have real societal impact," Keenan said. "Transformative gifts of this stature help us raise our academic profile while ensuring students reach their fullest potential."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)