Davidson College was founded with the belief that a college education should be accessible for all. In the Trustee minutes from 1841, a member of the board stated that the College should work to keep the cost of education “within the reach of many in our land, who could not otherwise obtain it.” In order to financially support this principle, in 2007 Davidson announced the beginning of the Davidson Trust. The Trust allows students to pursue an education without the burden of needing to take out loans. Davidson is invested in meeting 100% of the financial needs of all accepted students through grants and work study. This program has been strengthened even during tough economic times, and it is now a cornerstone of what makes Davidson so special.

What does this mean for students? It not only enriches the lives of the close to 50% of students who directly benefit from the Trust, but it allows for diversity in all aspects of the word to thrive at Davidson. Davidson College is center upon holistic view on education, and the Davidson Trust allows for this view to flourish. To learn more about the Trust, contact the Davidson Admissions and Financial Aid Office. Or feel free to read the article about the trust in Bloomberg Businessweek (buswk.co/Qj5jIp).

As a Rhode Islander at Davidson, I am constantly asked the question: Why Davidson? I am also asked why I picked coming to the South, but that is a much easier question to answer. As for “Why Davidson”, the answer brings me back to a warm August day in 2008. I was visiting colleges during the summer months after my junior year of high school, stopping at Davidson on my way back to the Charlotte airport. It was a scorching hot day, and I was tired after a long road trip. My mother and I had run into some traffic driving down I-77, so we missed our campus tour. After a pleasant information session, we were perusing the leaflets in the Admission Office when an Admissions Counselor told us to head towards the main academic building, Chambers, and see if a professor would be available to speak with us.

My mother and I had two hours to waste before heading to the airport, so we took a slow walk between the Admissions building and Chambers. When we entered the building, we headed to a wing on the second floor that houses the political science department (politics has always been an academic interest of mine). Luckily, Dr. Ken Menkhaus, a Davidson professor since 1991 and an expert on politics in the Horn of Africa, specifically Somalia, had his door open. As a seventeen year old, I was a bit reticent about approaching a college professor, but, after being pressed by my mother, I walked up to the door and asked if he had a moment to speak with us. What happened next defines Davidson for me.

Dr. Menkhaus invited my mother and I in and answered all of our questions. We spent over a half hour talking to him about political science, life at Davidson, and the college process. He then gave me his email address, and we corresponded during my college process. Dr. Menkhaus is an example of the wonderful professors at Davidson, and he is certainly not an anomaly. The heart of Davidson is the community that is created by the honor code, the town of Davidson, and the people that make this place so special. I knew that fateful day in August that this was the right place to be, and four years later I couldn’t have made a better decision.

Welcome to the 2012-2013 Academic Year at Davidson! This year, we will have a number of bloggers post about their experiences at Davidson, something that is particularly interesting to them, or news about Davidson. These bloggers will include Admissions Staff, Students, and Faculty from diverse backgrounds and interests. Check the blog regularly for new postings, and feel free to contact the Admissions Office to learn more about Davidson College.