Annual gifts are the most important means of support
that Hendrix receives from alumni and friends. By providing competitive scholarships
and financial aid, the Annual Fund enables Hendrix to recruit and retain the best
and brightest students. The Annual Fund also underwrites many academic, co-curricular,
and campus life projects that tuition alone cannot cover.
During A Commitment of National Leadership,
the Hendrix Annual Fund received $29 in gifts from alumni, friends, parents, and
other supporters. While the campaign is complete, the College continues to rely
strongly on annual gifts to ensure current students have the kind of unique experience
that Hendrix alumni enjoyed as students and appreciate today.
As a student, Shawn Johnson ’98 received grants
and financial aid to help offset the cost of attending Hendrix. A double major in
politics and history, Johnson was involved in Student Senate, Social Committee,
Student Congress, Hardin Hall Council, the Hendrix Choir, Young Democrats, and worked
in the Registrar’s Office. As an alumnus and member of the Alumni Board of Governors,
Shawn supports the Hendrix Annual Fund.
"Hendrix taught me to think critically and to consider
diverse views while forming and expressing my opinions," said Johnson, Assistant
Attorney General in the Arkansas Attorney General’s Office. "The Annual Fund ensures
that other high school graduates like I was in 1994 will have the opportunity to
afford the expenses at Hendrix and thus have the benefit of the Hendrix experience."
"In my professional life as a lawyer, I have found
that Hendrix alumni are everywhere - in business, the arts, and sciences. Despite
variations in their careers, they embody the same respect for differences in culture
and life experience that I came to appreciate from my Hendrix experience," said
Johnson. "Now more than ever, these values in our society are immensely important,
and one of the ways to help them grow into wider acceptance is through support of
our alma mater."
Parents of current Hendrix students are important Annual
Fund supporters through their gifts to the Parent Fund. Cindy and Rick Maley of
Mountain Home are the parents of Dana Maley ’13 and proud Parent Fund supporters.
"Our gift is a form of unconditional giving. It is
an example we, as parents, feel obligated to set," said Cindy. "The opportunities
presented to her encourage us to support Hendrix so that others needing any kind
of financial supplement can benefit as she does. We are committed to supporting
such programs, hoping our children will perpetuate the same principles and ideals."
"As parents, we feel inspired and obligated to recognize
and promote the program that benefits our daughter and affords her unique opportunities,"
she said. "She’s evolved into a more focused and driven person. It’s opened her
eyes to new opportunities and her own budding potential."